Panther women lose third straight, fall to fourth place in MVC standings

The University of Northern Iowa women's basketball team continues to struggle on the road this season; the Panthers lost their third straight road game, 75-61, to the Bradley University Braves Friday night in Peoria, Ill. UNI has not had a three-game losing streak in Missouri Valley Conference play since March 4, 2010.

The Panthers (15-10, 8-6 MVC) have not won a game outside the state of Iowa since Jan. 7, when they defeated Southern Illinois University 70-66. UNI's last road win came at Drake University on Jan. 29.

Bradley (14-12, 5-9 MVC) took advantage of UNI's poor 3-point shooting (4-for-24) by shooting 49.2 percent from the field.

After the Braves got out to an early 15-9 lead, the Panthers used their own 9-0 run, capped by a Katelin Oney lay-up, to take an 18-15 lead with just over seven minutes left in the first half. The two teams battled to the third tie of the first half at 21-21, but Bradley took a 28-24 lead into halftime.

Bradley started the second half by extending their lead to 34-26, but the Panthers answered with a 7-0 run, including five straight points from K.K. Armstrong, to cut the deficit to one point. However, Bradley answered with a 7-0 run themselves to extend their lead to eight points with just over 13 minutes left. The Panthers cut the lead down to just four points on two occasions, but could not complete the comeback.

UNI, which is just 4-6 on the road this season, recorded 19 turnovers including 14 Bradley steals. The Panthers were also outscored 44-30 in the paint.

Bradley, which shot 60.6 percent from the field in the second half, was led by Kelsey Budd's 22 points. Leah Kassing, Shronda Butts and Catie O'Leary also contributed 45 points. In total, the five Bradley starters scored 71 of the team's 75 points.

Oney, who played in her 100th career game for UNI, led the Panthers with 14 points and a career-high five assists, but failed to hit a 3-pointer games. Brooke Brown hit a career high three 3-pointers for a total 12 points, and Rachel Madrigal added 11 points. The three combined to shoot 3-for-16 from behind the 3-point arc.

With the loss, UNI falls into a fourth-place tie with Creighton University in the MVC standings, but remain just one game behind third-place Illinois State University and 2.5 games behind first-place teams Wichita State University and Missouri State University. The Panthers' final two games of the season are against Missouri State and Wichita State.

UNI returns to action Friday at 8:30 p.m. in the McLeod Center when they host Creighton in a game that will break the fourth-place tie.