Northern Iowa tallied its first win of the 2009 season, topping Butler in the Cancun Thanksgiving Classic, 65-60, while Drake squeaked out a 66-65 victory over Arkansas-Little Rock.  Elsewhere around the league, Evansville fell to Kennesaw State, 70-65, while Bradley came out on the short end of a 80-66 decision versus Washington State.

NORTHERN IOWA 65, BUTLER 60
CANCUN, Mexico - The University of Northern Iowa women's basketball team topped Butler 65-60 in the Panthers' final game of the Cancun Thanksgiving Classic. Kim Wypiszynski shot 7-of-10 from the floor and 7-of-9 from the free-throw line to lead UNI with 21 points and nine rebounds.

Jacqui Kalin added 14 points, and K.K. Armstrong finished with 13. Erin Brocka grabbed seven rebounds for the Panthers (1-4).

Butler (2-3) took a 13-8 lead at the 10-minute mark in the first half. The Panthers scored five straight points to tie the game for the third time, 13-13. The teams were tied again at 16-16, but the Bulldogs scored the final six points of the first half to take a 22-16 lead into the break.

The Bulldogs extended their lead to eight, 28-20, but the Panthers used a 10-2 run to tie the game, 30-30, with 14:46 to play. With the game tied 35-35, the Panthers rattled off 10 straight points, taking a 45-35 lead with 11:05 to play.

Butler responded with an 8-0 run, cutting the Panther lead to 45-43 with 9:38 to play.

Kalin hit a three and a jumper on back-to-back trips to stretch UNI's lead back to seven, 50-43. Wypiszynski connected on a pair of free throws to give UNI a 52-43 lead with eight minutes to play.

The teams traded baskets to keep the Panther lead at nine, but the Bulldogs scored nine unanswered points to tie the game, 54-54 with 4:24 remaining. 

A Wypiszynski layup put the Panthers back in the lead, but it was short-lived, as Butler responded with a jumper to tie the game, 56-56 with 2:24 to play.

Kalin hit a pair of free throws, and K.K. Armstrong grabbed a defensive rebound with Butler's Brittany Bowen missed a three-point attempt on the Bulldogs' ensuing possession. A layup from Wypiszynski put the Panthers up by four, 60-56, with 1:24 on the clock.

Terra Burns made a jumper to cut the Panther lead in half, but Wypiszynski scored a layup to keep it at a two-possession contest, 62-58 with just 38 seconds left.

A basket from Bowen with 30 seconds left pulled the Bulldogs within two, but Wypiszynski connected on one of two free-throw tries to give UNI a 63-60 edge with 24 seconds remaining.

Butler came up empty-handed on its next trip down, and Wypiszynski grabbed the defensive rebound. She was sent to the line with just six ticks on the clock. She converted a pair of free throws to give UNI the 65-50 win. 

UNI shot 46.8 percent (22-of-47) from the floor, including 5-of-12 (41.7) from three-point range. The Panthers made 16-of-19 (84.2 percent) free-throw attempts.

The Bulldogs were 23-of-62 (37.1 percent) from the floor, including 4-of-26 (15.1 percent) from behind the arc. Butler made 10-of-14 (71.4 percent) free-throw attempts.

UNI returns to action on Wednesday when it plays at Northern Illinois.


KENNESAW STATE 70, EVANSVILLE 65
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The Kennesaw State University women's basketball team used a game-ending 12-2 run over the final 3:15 to overcome a five-point University of Evansville lead and post a 70-65 victory over the Purple Aces in the consolation game of the DoubleTree Classic in Chattanooga, Tennessee on Saturday.

After Evansville held the Owls to just two points over a seven-minute span during a 15-2 run which erased an eight-point Kennesaw State lead, back-to-back three-point plays by Kennesaw State quickly ignited the Owls' game-ending run.  Freshman guard Kayla Weaver's three-pointer from the right corner with 3:15 to play began the run, and was followed by a traditional three-point play by DeAndrea Bullock with 2:28 to go which gave the Owls a 64-63 lead.

Evansville would answer back with a jumper from the left baseline by senior guard Amy Gallagher with 2:06 to play to retake a 65-64 lead.  Gallagher's jumper though would be the last points Evansville would score, and after an offensive put-back basket by Montinique Nixon would give Kennesaw State a 66-65 lead with 58 seconds to play, the Owls would go a perfect 4-of-4 from the free throw line in the final minute to keep UE at bay.

For the game, Kennesaw State out-rebounded Evansville, 49-37, including grabbing 19 offensive rebounds.  The Owls converted those rebounds into 15 second-chance points, including five points during their game-ending 12-2 run.

Bullock led Kennesaw State with 17 points, while Weaver and fellow guard Angie Smith each pitched in 14 points apiece.  Smith also added eight rebounds and five assists off of the bench. 

Junior forward Stephanie Bamberger paced four Purple Aces in double-figures with 13 points.  Freshman point guard Kaylan Martin also added a season-high 12 points and five assists, while sophomore guard Jordan Lewis pitched in 11 points and rookie center Samantha Heck added 10 points and four rebounds.

With the victory, Kennesaw State evens its record at 3-3 overall.  Evansville, meanwhile, slips to 0-5.  The Purple Aces will wrap up a four-game road trip on Wednesday night, as Evansville will travel to Indianapolis, Indiana to battle long-time in-state rival Butler.  Tip-off is set for 6:00 p.m. and Wednesday's game can be heard live on 91.5 F.M.-WUEV.


WASHINGTON 80, BRADLEY 66
LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Bradley couldn't overcome a poor shooting first half and committed 30 turnovers as Washington State topped the Braves 80-66 Saturday in the opening day of the Lady Rebel Round-Up at Cox Pavilion.

Bradley (1-3 overall) trailed 18-17 with 8:18 remaining in the first half, when Washington State (2-2 overall) capitalized on a BU drought.  The Braves made just one field goal in the final eight minutes of the period and the Cougars outscored Bradley 18-6 to close the half to take a 36-24 lead into the break. 

BU shot just 32 percent in the first half and made just 7-of-17 from the free throw line (41.2 percent), while committing 15 turnovers.

Washington State's Jazmine Perkins scored 13 points in the first six minutes of the second half to help the Cougars extend their advanatage to 20 points (55-35).  Bradley used an 8-1 spurt to pull to within 13 points (56-43), but Washington State answered with nine straight points to push the lead to 65-43 midway through the second half. 

Freshman Brooke Bisping scored six points to highlight a 12-2 BU run which cut the deficit to 12 points (67-55), but Bradley was unable to pull to within single digits as Washington State handed the Braves an 80-66 setback.

Bradley heated up in the second half, shooting 48.3 percent after the break, but committed another 15 turnovers to finish with 30 on the night.  Washington State outrebounded the Braves 46-39 and boasted a 24-18 edge in points off turnovers.  The Braves made 10-of-12 free throws in the second half, but finished the game shooting just 58.6 percent (17-for-29) from the line. 

Bisping and fellow freshman Olivia Allen paced Bradley in scoring with 14 points each off the bench.  Junior Sonya Harris grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds and finished one point short of a double-double (nine points).

Perkins scored 17 second-half points and led Washington State with a game-high 20 points.  KiKi Moore finished with 16 points and game highs of five assists and six steals.  April Cook also finished in double figures with 15 points.

The Braves close out play at the Lady Rebel Round-Up Sunday with a 3 p.m. (CST) tilt against tournament-host UNLV in the consolation game.  UNLV fell to Boise State 74-66 in the day's first contest. 


DRAKE 66, ARKANSAS-LITTLE ROCK 65
Story to come ...