WICHITA, Kan.- UNI's defense held Wichita State to its worst shooting performance of the season, as the Panthers (10-8, 4-3) snapped a three-game skid with a 66-56 win over Wichita State (7-10, 2-5) Sunday afternoon in front of 3,457 fans inside Charles Koch Arena.

Points were at a premium early for both teams, as the Shocker defense again began the game well, forcing the Panthers to miss their first five shots while forcing four turnovers. WSU opened the game with baskets by Stephens and Wells to take an early 4-0 lead, but UNI answered with a 7-0 run to claim a 7-4 lead by the 15 minute mark of the first frame.

Kinder fueled the Shockers' offensively early on, scoring six of her points in the first part of the half, helping cut the Panther advantage to 12-11 after a basket with just under 10 minutes to play in the first. Marcy Sudbeck's jumper tied the game at 13-13 with 9:15 left in the half but UNI's Sarah Larsen answered with a three-pointer to regain the lead, 16-13 with just under eight minutes in the first.

UNI continued on to build a 20-13 lead with just over six minutes left in the frame following a quick 7-0 run, capped by Jessie Biggs' 12-footer, and back-to-back baskets by King coupled with an old-fashioned three-point play by Biggs gave the Panthers their largest lead of the half, 27-15, with 2:57 left in the frame.

The Shockers outscored the Panthers 8-5 in the final two-plus minutes to trail at halftime, 32-23.

King and Wells battled early on during the second frame, as King scored six of UNI's first eight points of the second while Wells scored the first seven Wichita State points as the Panthers clung to a 40-31 lead with just under 14 minutes left in the game. 

WSU closed the lead to just six following a mini 5-0 run that began with steals from Rice and Steven, leading to baskets in transition that cut the UNI lead to 42-36 forcing the Panthers to use a timeout.

Wells' layin with just under 12 minutes left trimmed the deficit to 42-38, but Larsen scored back-to-back baskets and coupled with a free throw put the Panthers ahead 47-38 with 11:28 left. 

UNI put the game away by holding Wichita State to just one point and no baskets for a six-plus minute stretch that began with just under 12 minutes remaining, as the Panthers broke out to 53-39 lead with just under nine minutes to play following a 9-1 run.

Two free throws from Stephens ended a four-minute scoring drought and cut the UNI lead to 54-41 with 5:52 left, but another Biggs basket extended the lead to 15, 56-41, with 5:30 to play.

Lexee McDonnell's basket with 5:12 left cut the UNI lead to 56-43, and Stephens' basket with 4:31 left brought the Shockers to within 11 at 56-45, but the Panthers pushed back out to a 13-point lead following a pair of King free throws that made the score 58-45.

Seven-straight points from Steven got the Shockers to within eight, 60-52, with just over two minutes remaining, but the Panthers continued to answer, as Larsen's 19-footer with 1:30 remaining helped UNI finish off the Shockers as the Panthers made  all four of their final free throws down the stretch.

Wells led the Shockers with her 25th career double-double, pouring in 12 points and bringing down a season-high 16 boards. Stephens followed with 10 points and eight rebounds.

For Northern Iowa, Tara King, Jessie Biggs, and Sarah Larsen combined for 52 of the Panthers' 66 points. King led all scorers with 24, Biggs added 18 and Larsen chipped in 10. Alexa Mennen had a team-high five rebounds.

 

The Shockers take to the road next weekend, traveling to Des Moines, Iowa to take on the Drake Bulldogs on Thursday, Jan. 25 at 7:05 p.m. WSU follows up with a trip to Creighton to play the Bluejays at 4:05 p.m. in Omaha, Neb.

 

 

 -Wichita State-