Rucker leads Panthers past Salukis
CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Northern Iowa women’s basketball team battled past Southern Illinois for a 67-56 win in the Banterra Center on Friday night.
With 2 minutes, 24 seconds left in the third quarter, Southern Illinois tied the game at 41-all. UNI’s Emerson Green converted a three-point play and the Panthers eventually went into the fourth quarter with a 45-41 advantage.
A 3-pointer by Southern Illinois’ Quierra Love brought her team back to within one, but that was before Karli Rucker made a personal 12-point run for the Panthers.
Rucker, who finished with a game-high 23 points, scored 12 in a row to help the Panthers pull away for the 11-point triumph.
Makenzie Silvey recorded her second-straight double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds to lead Southern Illinois (8-13, 5-11). Gabby Walker dished out a career-high six assists to go with her 15 points.
The Panthers and the Salukis close out the regular season with a rematch today at 4 p.m.
UNI 67, Southern Illinois 56
N. IOWA (12-11, 9-7) — Rucker 8-17 6-8 23, Green 6-9 0-1 13, Gunnels 1-1 2-2 5, Maahs 1-3 2-2 4, Kroeger 1-4 0-0 2, Kinley 5-12 2-3 12, Wolf 3-7 0-0 6, Boffeli 1-1 0-0 2, McDermott 0-0 0-0 0, Laube 0-1 0-0 0, McCullough 0-0 0-0 0, Morgan 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS 26-56 12-16 67.
S. ILLNOIS (8-13, 5-11) — Silvey 7-17 2-2 17, Walker 5-9 5-6 15, Link 1-1 2-4 5, Love 2-3 0-0 5, Pudlowski 0-6 0-0 0, Katcher 4-10 0-2 8, McCallister 1-2 0-0 3, Potter 1-2 0-0 3, Keita 0-2 0-0 0, Prochaska 0-0 0-0 0, Douvier 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS 21-53 9-14 56.
N. IOWA 13 18 14 22 — 67
S. ILLINOIS 12 9 20 15 — 56
3-Point Goals–UNI 3-15 (Gunnels 1-1, Green 1-2, Rucker 1-4, Kroeger 0-1, Wolf 0-1, Laube 0-1, McCullough 0-1, Finley 0-4), S. Illinois 5-13 (Link 1-1, Love 1-1, McCallister 1-2, Potter 1-2, Silvey 1-3, Pudlowski 0-2, Katcher 0-2). Rebounds–UNI 32 (Gunnels 12), S. Illinois 37 (Silvey 12). Assists–UNI 11 (Maahs 4), S. Illinois 14 (Walker 6). Total Fouls–UNI 14, S. Illinois 18. Fouled out–Walker.