Northern Iowa scored 90 points against Missouri State in an afternoon women's conference game, while Bradley shot a season-best 52.6% en route to a 88-77 win at home over Wichita State in a night game.

Northern Iowa 90, Missouri State 72
        The University of Northern Iowa women's basketball team shot 52.1 percent (25-of-48) from the floor, including 11-of-21 (52.4 percent) from three-point range as the Panthers tied their season high with 90 points in a 90-72 win over Missouri State on Saturday in the McLeod Center. 

       Junior Traci Ollendieck shot 5-of-8 from three-point range on the way to a career-high 26 points to lead the Panthers. Seniors Tara King added 18 and 16 points, respectively. Ollendieck led the Panthers with nine rebounds and three steals.

            Tahnee Balerio led MSU (6-17, 2-12) with 21 points and six assists.

            The Panthers (15-11, 9-6) connected from behind the arc five times through the first 11 minutes of play, racing out to a 22-12 lead with 9:16 on the clock.

            Biggs hit two free throws at 5:01 to give UNI a 31-19 advantage. The Lady Bears chipped away at the UNI lead, and after trailing 36-24, MSU used a 9-2 run to climb within five, 38-33 at 2:20.  UNI used free throws from Nicole Clausen, Biggs and King to stretch its lead back to 10, 44-34 with 1:20 remaining.

            Balerio was fouled as she shot a three, and she connected on all three free-throw attempts to pull the Lady Bears within seven with 58 ticks on the clock. On the next MSU possession, Melissa Busby connected from behind the arc, cutting the Panther lead to 44-40 and ending the half on a 6-0 MSU run.

            In the second half, MSU's Eria Biel was fouled as she hit a layup, and the free throw extended the Lady Bear run to 9-0 and cut the Panther advantage to 44-43. Sarah Larsen hit a jump shot and a three on back-to-back possessions to push the Panther lead to six, 49-43 at 18:01.

            With the Panther lead at four, Kristyn Ferris hit a three to put UNI in front 54-47 with 15:23 on the clock. Balerio and King traded baskets to keep the difference at seven, but then Tiff Terwelp hit her first career three and Roxie Stiles followed it with a three on the next Lady Bear possession to pull MSU within one, 56-55 at 14:18.

            A free throw from King and jump shot from Keefe put UNI in front by four, but Breton Wyett was fouled as she hit a layup, and the free throw cut UNI's lead to one, 59-58 at 13:05. On the next Lady Bear trip, Busby was fouled on a three-point attempt, and she connected on all three free throws to give MSU its first lead of the game, 61-59 at 12:22.

            A free throw from Ollendieck cut the Lady Bear lead in half, and then King connected from behind the arc to put UNI back in front, 63-61 at 11:43.

            Less than a minute later, King left the game with an injury and would not return for the remainder of the game.

            For the next three minutes the game became a free-throw shooting contest, and the Panthers outscored MSU 7-2 from the stripe to build a 70-63 lead with 8:08 to play.

            With UNI holding the six-point lead, Ollendieck hit her fourth three of the game to put the Panthers in front, 73-64 at 7:30.

            Two minutes later, MSU trimmed the Panther lead to seven with a pair of free throws from Tag Morris, but Ollendieck connected from three-point range for the fifth time to return the Panther lead to double-digits, 78-68 with 5:20 to play.

            Terwelp hit a free throw to pull the Lady Bears within nine, but Ollendieck answered for UNI, to make the scored 79-69 with 4:28 to play. The Panther lead never dipped below double digits from that point on, and the Panthers outscored MSU 11-3 over the final 4:16 to take the win.

            The offensive outburst by the Panthers follows two straight games where the Panthers shot less than 33 percent from the floor and scored a combined 95 points.

            The Panthers shot 12-of-25 (48 percent) in the first half, and finished the game shooting 13-of-23 (56.5 percent) from the floor. UNI shot 29-of-38 (76.3 percent) from the free-throw line.

            Missouri State shot 40.4 percent (21-of-52) from the floor, including 9-of-18 (50 percent) from three-point range. The Lady Bears were 21-of-26 (80.8 percent) from the free-throw line.

            King's injury is still be evaluated, and her condition will be re-evaluated on a daily basis.

Bradley 88, Wichita State 77
All five Bradley starters scored in double figures and the Braves shot a season-best 52.6 percent from the field as the Bradley women’s basketball team posted an 88-77 victory against Wichita State to win its third consecutive game Saturday night at Robertson Memorial Field House.

Bradley (11-15 overall, 7-8 MVC) trailed in the early moments of the game, before the Braves used a 16-2 run to build a 27-16 lead with 8:55 to play.  Wichita State pulled to within five points on several occasions but an Amy Peters three-pointer with 44 seconds in the half sent Bradley into the locker room with a 41-31 at the half.

Both teams shot better than 59 percent in the second half, with the Braves shooting a blistering 64 percent in the final 20 minutes of play.  Bradley built its lead to as many as 15 points after Jen Brown capped an 11-3 BU run with a jumper with 8:38 to put the Braves ahead 73-58.

Wichita State (9-15 overall, 4-10 MVC) trailed 78-67 following a Kelly Krumwiede free throw with 4:36 to play, before Antionette Wells scored five of her career-high 30 points to highlight a 10-4 Wichita State spurt that pulled the Shockers to within five points (82-77) with 2:30 to play. 

Wells free throw at the 2:30 mark would be the last points for Wichita State, however, as the Braves scored the final six points of the game to salvage a split in the regular-season series with the Shockers with an 88-77 victory.  Bradley’s three-game win streak is the longest since the end of February last season.

Bradley shot a season-best 52.6 percent from the field and knocked down 10-of-19 three-pointers.  Seventh-year head coach Paula Buscher and the Braves were hosting their fourth annual Hoops for the Cure Event, helping raise money for the Susan G. Komen Foundation.  Highlighting the event was the Coach’s Challenge, with Buscher and many boosters combining to pledge almost $500 per made three-pointer by the Braves.  The event helped raise nearly eight thousand dollars for the Komen Foundation.

Not only did the Braves have their best night shooting the ball since Jan. 7, 2006, but Bradley committed a season-low eight turnovers (the lowest total since committing seven turnovers exactly one year ago) and also dished out a season-best 22 assists.

Senior Erika Nelson led the Braves in scoring with 20 points, hitting 4-of-7 three-point attempts and also came away with four steals.  Brown contributed 19 points and tied a season-best six assists.  Junior Devyn Flanagan broke out of her recent offensive funk and added 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting and had a career-best eight assists.  Also in double figures for BU were senior Amy Peters (13 points) and Ashley Chelleen (11 points).

Wells had a game and career-high 30 points on 10-of-14 shooting and also hauled down a game-high 16 rebounds to lead Wichita State.  Junior forward Kiki Stephens was the only other Shocker in double figures with 12 points on 6-of-11 shooting.  Wichita State shot 50.9 percent on the evening and outrebounded the Braves 34-27.  Wells helped the Shockers post a 38-28 edge in points in the paint and also helped WSU hold an 18-9 in second chance points.