WICHITA -- Northern Iowa scored three times in the top of the seventh inning as the Panthers withstood a late charge by the Wichita State University softball team to hold on to the 5-3 Missouri Valley Conference win Wednesday afternoon.

It was the first MVC game for both teams with the Panthers improving to 13-11 on the season.  The loss drops the Shockers to 9-13.

Allison Galvin was 3-for-3 from the dish for UNI with a run scored while MacKenzie Daigh went 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI.

Jen Larsen hit her second home run of the season, a two-run shot, and was 1-for-4.

Lauren Coleman had two hits in three trips to the plate for WSU with an RBI.  Sammie Shook was 1-for-1 with her first home run of the season, a solo shot in the bottom of the seventh inning.

The Shockers fell behind after the first inning as the Panthers put up a two-spot after Daigh got on base and was driven home on the Larsen home run.

The score remained 2-0 in favor of the visiting team until the bottom of the fifth inning when WSU mounted a comeback.  Lindsie Mitts led off the inning with a single up the middle and then stole second.  Following a sacrifice bunt, Hayley Temple reached on a fielding error, and then advanced to second on steal to put runners at second and third with one out.

Coleman followed with an RBI single down the left-field line, plating Mitts and moving Temple to third.  Temple came into score following a ground out as Kiersten Dixon hit an infield single to tie the game.  UNI starting pitcher Melissa Tillett was able to get out of the jam without allowing further damage by getting a ground out to end the inning.

Tillett worked a complete game for the Panthers, allowing six hits and three runs, two earned, to notch her third win of the season.

The game remained tied until the seventh inning when the Panthers put up three runs on four hits.  Pinch-hitter Kim Wachholder had an RBI single to score pinch-runner Whitney Plein with the first UNI run of the inning.  An RBI ground out by Megan Machovec and a RBI single by Daigh capped the Northern Iowa scoring.

The Shockers looked to claw back into the contest as Shook took the first pitch she saw from Tillett in the inning over the left-field fence.  Coleman reached on her second single of the day but Tillett was again able to settle down and retire the next two Shockers to ice the win.

Dixon went 1-for-3 with an RBI for WSU.

Starting pitcher Kasha Kolb picked up the tough luck loss as she pitched 6 1/3 innings, allowing four runs, on six hits while striking out six Panther batters.

The two teams will rest on Saturday, March 20, due to impending weather moving into the Wichita area.  UNI and WSU will resume the three-game stand on Sunday, March 21, with game one of the double header scheduled to begin at 12 p.m.