UNI women’s basketball upsets No. 8 Iowa State behind Maya McDermott’s 37 points

CEDAR FALLS — A lopsided third quarter pushed Northern Iowa’s women’s basketball team past No. 8 Iowa State at McLeod Center Wednesday night, 87-75, its first win against a top-10 opponent in program history.

Trailing 44-41 at halftime, UNI (3-1) used multiple defenses to provoke seven ISU turnovers in the third quarter. As the Cyclones (4-1) struggled with ball security the Panthers went on a 21-4 run, hitting 5 of 12 3-pointers during the outburst.

“I thought we did a terrific job of defending,” UNI coach Tanya Warren said. “You’re not going to stop Iowa State, you have to try and slow them down and mix some things up. We (were) mixing up where we were trying to bring the double (teams) on (Audi Crooks). We really tried to add a little more (ball) pressure with (Emily Ryan). Played with our hands up, got some tips and just tried to make it as difficult as we could.”

UNI senior guard Maya McDermott’s 35 minutes on the floor were the best of her decorated career, scoring a career-high 37 points — 18 in a back-and-forth first half that featured six lead changes.

“I thought (McDermott) was phenomenal,” Iowa State Coach Bill Fennelly said. “Hit some really, really hard shots. When (Arianna Jackson) got two fouls in the first three minutes of the game, we knew we were in trouble at that point because we just don’t have anyone that can match up to her enough.”

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Already an underdog headed into the in-state rivalry game, the Panthers played their first game this season without All-Missouri Valley Conference center Grace Boffeli, who was ruled out for the season Wednesday morning with a torn ACL.

“My performance — that’s just dedicated to Grace Boffeli,” McDermott said. “Everything with her and how she went down (injured) — everything we do is dedicated to her.”

Freshman Elise Jaeger started in-place of Boffeli and responded to the assignment with five rebounds, three assists, one steal, one block and nine points — all coming on 3s, stretching out Iowa State’s defense as a result.

“She did not back down,” Warren said of Jaeger. “One of the things that we talked about is, ‘you’ve been playing this game all your life — the game has not changed. It doesn’t change. This is a great opportunity.’ And I thought she embraced it. I thought she was physical. I thought she took what the defense gave her.”

Kayba Laube was the only other Panther to join McDermott in double figures, making 5 of 7 3-point attempts en route to 21 points.

Crooks, Addy Brown, Ryan and Mackenzie Hare all reached double figures for the Cyclones, led by Crooks’ 22 points.

“That is no easy task,” Jaeger said of guarding Crooks. “Especially being a freshman I was a little nervous about that one, but, just (held) my ground — that’s something that we practiced. She’s going to make her shots. She’s going to make tough (shots), but just be able to bounce back from that.”

UNI returns to action next Thursday at 2 p.m. at the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands against Auburn (ESPN+).

Iowa State is back in action Sunday at 2 p.m. at home against Drake (ESPN+).