Women's Basketball: Hawkeyes hold off UNI

Jaime Printy was a willing and able rally-killer.

Printy scored 27 points and stymied a pair of Northern Iowa comeback bids with 3-pointers as 14th-rated Iowa held off the Panthers, 75-64, in front of 5,337 fans Wednesday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“We've been letting teams come back on us, but we keep our composure and stick together,” Printy said after the Hawkeyes concluded their non-conference campaign at 12-1.

Iowa opens Big Ten action Dec. 30 at Penn State.

UNI (7-4) carved a 19-point halftime deficit to 52-47 before Printy stopped the bleeding with a trey at the 12:30 mark, then Kamille Wahlin added another to open the margin back to 11.

The Panthers had one more surge in them, and Printy had one more response.

Cedar Rapids native K.K. Armstrong scored back-to-back baskets to get the Panthers within 70-64 at the 1:25 mark, then Printy delivered another dagger.

Printy's output was one point short of her career high, set at Indiana last February. The former Linn-Mar prep was 9-of-17 from the field (4 of 9 from long range), and made all five of her free throws.

“How are you going to guard that kid?” asked Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder. “She'll shoot from 22 feet if you're not in her face. And if you are in her face, she's going to go right around you.”

Wahlin added 17 points and Kachine Alexander scored 11 for the Hawkeyes, who played some of their best basketball of the season in the final 10 minutes of the first half.

It was 17-17 before the Hawkeyes kicked it in. They scored on 14 of their final 17 possessions of the half and took a 48-29 lead into the locker room.

“We literally stopped defending, and Iowa made us pay,” said UNI Coach Tanya Warren, who - by all accounts - had a pretty fierce tongue-lashing for her team at intermission.

“We got a pretty good yelling,” said Lizzie Boeck. “We took 10 minutes off on offense. But we came back in the second half and had great energy.”

Jacqui Kalin paced the Panthers with 18 points. Boeck added 11.

Wednesday's game was a reunion of sorts. Both teams are well-represented each summer in the Game Time League at North Liberty.

“I think that takes off a little of the edge,” Boeck said.

The Hawkeyes were playing their third game in five days - “Maybe we were a tad fatigued,” Wahlin said, “but you have to play through it” – and will take four days off before gathering Monday to begin preparations for Penn State.

UNI kicks off Missouri Valley Conference play Dec. 30 at Indiana State.

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