Familiarity all around for Iowa, UNI

IOWA CITY -- No secrets here.

The Iowa Hawkeyes and UNI Panthers spend summer evenings intermingled among each other at the Game Time League, spending as much time as teammates as competitors.

"We're two teams that play so similar, and we know each other really well," said Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder.

But this is no summer ball at the North Liberty Recreation Center. This is the real thing.

Iowa (2-1) travels to Cedar Falls for a Saturday matchup with UNI (2-0). Tipoff is 3 p.m. at the McLeod Center.

It's the first step for both teams in the round-robin for state supremacy. Iowa State got the ball rolling Tuesday, rallying for a win over Drake.

"We don't like to lose to in-state teams," said Iowa's Jaime Printy.

The Hawkeyes swept their in-state sisters last season.

For Printy, familiarity with the Panthers runs deep. She was a Cedar Rapids Panthers youth teammate with UNI's Katelin Oney and K.K. Armstrong.

"Definitely, it will be a lot of fun. We grew up together," said Printy, who is averaging a team-high 21.7 points per game for Iowa.

Oney is second in scoring for UNI at 13.5 points per game.

Both teams reached the NCAA tournament last season. UNI, so far, has overcome the ACL injury to point guard Jacqui Kalin, picking up wins over Colorado State and Chicago State.

"They do a lot of things similar to us. It's going to be a great battle," Bluder said.

IOWA (2-1) at NORTHERN IOWA (2-0)

Where -- McLeod Center, Cedar Falls

Tipoff -- 3 p.m. Saturday

TV -- Mediacom Connections

Notable -- It's the in-state opener for both teams, and the winner will join Iowa State (a winner over Drake) as an early co-leader in the race for state supremacy. Iowa won its first rebounding battle of the season in an 82-60 win over Albany on Wednesday. Kelly Krei picked up the third double-double of her career. Jaime Printy leads the Hawkeyes at 21.7 points per game, Iowa is shooting 84.4 percent from the line. Decorah native Rachel Madrigal leads the Panthers at 14.5 points per game. Former Cedar Rapids Washington prep Katelin Oney adds 13.5 per contest.