UNI recovers from 1-9 start to enter MVC women’s basketball tournament as potent No. 4 seed

CEDAR FALLS — A 1-9 start to the season didn’t derail the Northern Iowa women’s basketball team.

The Panthers — picked as the favorite in the Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll — weathered early season injuries to All-MVC honorees Grace Bofelli and Maya McDermott and finished 14-5. That was good enough to secure the MVC tournament’s 4-seed and the fourth and final first-round bye.

“If you’d told me several weeks ago that we would finish 15-14, I’m sure there are a lot of people that would not have believed you,” UNI Coach Tanya Warren said. “For this team to find a way to finish above .500 and finish fourth (place) says a lot about the young women in this program.”

UNI’s ability to face adversity was tested once more when starting guard Emerson Green was injured in a home loss to Drake on Feb. 3 and ruled out for the season days later.

“I think we’re 10-2 without Emerson,” Warren said. “We have several people that have stepped up and are playing good basketball since Emerson went down. But, I’m extremely pleased with how we’re playing on both ends of the (floor) as we go into the conference tournament.”

Kayba Laube has led the group of Panthers Warren references as having stepped up since Green’s injury.

The junior guard from Marion is averaging 12.7 points in Green’s absence and leads the MVC in 3-pointers made per game (2.45).

“Kayba has done a lot of really good things for us other than just shooting the basketball,” Warren said. “She’s defended well. She’s rebounding and she’s shot the basketball extremely well, not only from 3, but (with) her ability now to get downhill.”

With Laube’s improvement and Bofelli and McDermott healthy and once again playing at an all-conference level — earning first-team honors at Wednesday’s MVC awards banquet — the Panthers (14-6 MVC) are likely one of the most potent 4-seeds in any conference tournament across the country.

UNI will face an Illinois State (20-10, 13-7) team in Friday’s 2:30 p.m. quarterfinal game (ESPN+) that it split its regular season series with.

The Redbirds won, 88-77, at home on Jan. 25 and the Panthers returned the favor at McLeod Center on Feb. 8 with a 74-47 win.

“When you get to the conference tournament it is literally a one game season and we know anybody can beat anybody,” Warren said. “You have to find a way to play loose and be able to play through mistakes, because it’s gonna happen.

“There’s going to be conference tournament jitters. We talk a lot about (a) short term memory — it really comes into play on Friday.”