Nov. 24, 2007

Box Score

Upper Iowa's women's basketball team continued the holiday road trip in Kearney, Nebraska. UIU is participating in the Country Inn and Suites Thanksgiving Classic hosted by the University of Nebraska-Kearney this weekend. The Peacocks faced the Eagles of Chadron State College on Friday afternoon and rallied from an 8-point deficit in the second half to win the first game of the classic, 67-64.

The two teams played an even first half with Chadron State clinging to a 33-31 lead as the teams headed to halftime. The Eagles shot 48% (12-25) in the first half including six three-pointers, while the Peacocks hit just 34.5% (10-29) of their shots, but took advantage of their opportunities at the free throw line (8-11).

Upper Iowa and Chadron each started the second half well. The lead changed hands four times over the first ten minutes of the first half, but the Eagles began to make some headway and pushed out to a 54-46 lead with just over six minutes to play. After a timeout, the Peacocks went on a 15-3 run sparked by seven points from Andrea Downs and retook the lead 61-57 with 42 seconds to play.

The Eagles didn't give up as they cut the Peacock's lead to 65-64 when on another three-pointer with 9 seconds remaining. After the ball was inbounded, Downs was fouled and made two free throws to give the Peacocks a 67-64 advantage. Chadron State had a chance to tie the game, but its three-point attempt missed and Upper Iowa took the victory.

Upper Iowa was led by Downs, who finished with 22 points thanks to 9 of 11 shooting at the charity stripe. Downs also tallied 4 assists, 4 steals, and 3 rebounds. Ashley Martin netted 19 points fueled by five three-pointers. Martin is averaging 20 points/game on the road trip and has hit 12 three-pointers.

The Eagles out rebounded the Peacocks 42-38 for the game. Upper Iowa was led by Christa Hammel, who pulled down 10 rebounds and know has 32 boards on the road trip. Kim Thompson hauled in 7 boards, while Jodi Best grabbed 5 off the glass.

Upper Iowa (2-4) will face the University of Nebraska-Kearney in the Country Inn and Suites Thanksgiving Classic on Saturday, Nov. 24, at 6 p.m. The Peacocks will be back in Dorman Gymnasium on Monday night, Nov. 26, for a game against Waldorf College at 7 p.m.