Jenna Twedt

CORALVILLE — Jenna Twedt scored 25 points and Northern Iowa held off a late Bradley rally for a 74-73 victory in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference women’s basketball tournament on Friday at Xtream Arena.

The Panthers (18-13) led for most of the afternoon and built a lead as large as 17 points in the first half before Bradley mounted a furious comeback in the fourth quarter.

Twedt shot 9-for-17 from the field and 3-for-6 from 3-point range while adding three rebounds to lead Northern Iowa. Ryley Goebel added 16 points and six rebounds, and Elise Jaeger finished with eight points and nine boards for the Panthers.

Northern Iowa jumped out quickly, opening the game on an 11-0 run and taking a 22-7 lead after the first quarter. The Panthers pushed the margin to 17 points in the second quarter before Bradley trimmed the deficit to 36-25 by halftime.

Bradley (20-12) gradually worked back into the game behind strong outside shooting. The Braves hit 10 3-pointers and shot 91% from the free-throw line, keeping pressure on the Panthers down the stretch.

Northern Iowa maintained control entering the final minute after Taryn Wharton converted two free throws with five seconds remaining to push the lead to four. Bradley answered immediately when Tamia Perryman knocked down a 3-pointer with two seconds left, cutting the deficit to one, but the Braves were unable to get another shot before time expired.

Kaylen Nelson led Bradley with 17 points and seven rebounds. Perryman added 14 points, including four 3-pointers, and Maya Foz contributed seven points for the Braves.

“I think we played really well offensively, but I really like how we defended,” said UNI head coach Tanya Warren. “We did a terrific job of defending the three. You know, Bradley came out in the second half. They are going to go on some runs. They’re that good and made some adjustments. I like how we started the game. That start was key for us”

The Panthers shot 47% from the field and scored 26 points in the paint while holding Bradley to 35% shooting overall.

Northern Iowa advanced to the MVC tournament semifinals with the narrow victory after leading for more than 38 minutes of game time. The Panthers will face top-seeded Murray State (29-3) after the Racers rattled off a 105-88 win over Indiana State in the day’s first quarterfinal.