From UNI Athletics
MOLINE, Ill. – UNI women’s basketball fell to Bradley 62-59 quarterfinal game of the MVC Tournament at the TaxSlayer Center on Friday afternoon.
The Panthers led for the duration of the first half and ended the first quarter with a seven-point lead, 18-11. The Braves outscored the Panthers in the second quarter 13-7 but the Panthers still led going into halftime by one point, 25-24.
Lasha Petree scored a pair of free throws two minutes into the third quarter and the Braves took the lead for the first time in the game. UNI stayed within four points of the Braves and started the fourth quarter behind the Braves, 41-37.
Karli Rucker and Megan Maahs led the team in the fourth quarter. Maahs recorded 11 of her 17 points and Rucker recorded nine of her 19 points in the final frame.
Rucker made another layup that gave the Panthers the one-point lead, 49-48, over the Braves with 4:37 left in the game. The Braves built a 59-52 lead with 1:08 to play, The Panthers cut the lead to 62-59 with a Rucker three at the buzzer but couldn’t overcome the deficit.
Gabi Haack held the game-high 25 points and also grabbed seven rebounds for the Braves and Nyjah White recorded another 12 points.
UNI ended the game 38.0% from the field and the Braves recorded 40.0% from the field. Neither team could shoot higher than 26.0% from behind the arc but the Panthers out-rebounded the Braves.
GAME NOTES:
– Megan Maahs is now No. 16 on the All-Time Scoring list with 1,102 points and trails No. 15 Kerry Dawson by 31 points. She now has a total count of 851 rebounds.
– Karli Rucker led the Panthers with 19 points this afternoon.
– Bre Gunnels recorded six points, five rebounds and three blocks.
– Kam Finley and Maahs were 100.0% from the free-throw line.
