Armstrong sparks UNI into semifinals

ST. CHARLES, Mo. - K.K. Armstrong propelled Northern Iowa to an 87-57 rout of Bradley in a Missouri Valley Conference Tournament quarterfinal Friday, coming off the bench to score 26 points in 29 minutes.

Armstrong, a former Cedar Rapids Washington athlete, connected on 8 of 14 shots, including 4 of 7 3-pointers, and made all six of her foul shots. She rounded out her performance with four rebounds and two assists.

“I knew that I had to come out and provide a spark today for my teammates,” Armstrong said.

Top-seeded Northern Iowa (25-5), which won its 17th straight game, plays Wichita State in a semifinal game at 1:35 p.m. today in Family Arena. Fifth-seeded Wichita State defeated fourth-seeded Creighton, 58-52.

Former Cedar Rapids Washington prep Katelin Oney hit 4 of 5 3-pointers and scored 14 points for the Panthers. Jacqui Kalin, the league's player of the year, added 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting.

The Panthers shot an even 50 percent from the field (29 of 58) and an even better 57.1 percent from distance (12 of 21).

“I thought we shot the basketball extremely well, but it started with our defense,” said Tanya Warren, the MVC coach of the year. “I thought we were able to get some defensive stops, some steals, and it allowed us to get out and get easy points in transition.”

Kalin stressed the importance of team depth in the Panthers' success.

“Our team is really unique and special and hard to guard because you never know who's going to step up,” she said. “And (today) it really came from a spark off the bench, starting with K.K., and it's just great to see that.”