UNI enters MVC women’s basketball tournament on 4-game winning streak

CEDAR FALLS - After playing its first 21 games without winning or losing more than two in a row, Northern Iowa's women's basketball team got the bump in the Missouri Valley Conference standings it needed, courtesy a four-game winning streak to secure a first-round bye.

While the bye as the No. 4 seed is welcome, associate head coach Brad Nelson offered a reminder this week that simply being able to play in the tournament a year after it was canceled due to the pandemic is not lost on the Panthers.

'We're just so thankful after what happened a year ago being on the court when the tournament was called to get this opportunity again to be able to play in ‘Hoops in the Heartland,'” Nelson said. 'We're just taking it one game at a time. We're not even going to look at the bracket, just get ready for Bradley.”

The Panthers (14-11) swept series against Evansville and Southern Illinois the final two weekends of the regular season to secure their first-round bye.

In those sweeps, they got inspiring performances from seniors Karli Rucker and Megan Maahs, who head coach Tanya Warren mentioned late this regular season when asked about the team's struggles with consistency.

'I thought that Megan Maahs had her best weekend (of the season),” Nelson said. 'It's fun to see seniors step up. Karli led us that first game. She was outstanding. A lot of contributions from a lot of kids and our defense was outstanding.”

After not playing in the regular-season series because of injury, Nelson said the presence of freshman guard Emerson Green will help UNI's chances against fifth-seeded Bradley (14-11) at 2 p.m. Friday (ESPN+).

Green - who was named to the MVC's all-freshman team this week along with teammate Maya McDermott - has averaged nearly nine points per game since missing the Bradley series in mid-February, capped by double-digit performances in her last three regular-season games.

'She's a really important kid against Bradley because of her size and Bradley (having) such great length in their backcourt,” Nelson said. 'She had a tremendous offensive weekend against Southern Illinois. She's a huge piece.”

While UNI boasts an all-MVC first-team honoree in Rucker, the Braves feature two first-team honorees in their starting lineup.

Gabi Haack and Lasha Petree, who account for nearly 48 percent of the Braves scoring, enter Friday's matchup having scored 33 and 26 combined in the regular-season split against UNI.

'They're as good a starting five as there is in the league,” Nelson said.