Jan. 3, 2009

Final Stats

The Peacock women's basketball team ran into trouble during the first half of Saturday evening's game. Upper Iowa hosted the Wolves of Northern State University. NSU dominated the first half on both ends of the court. The Wolves shot 48% in the opening twenty minutes and held the Peacocks to 16%. Upper Iowa trailed 37-13 heading into the locker room. NSU outscored UIU 20-0 in the paint and 10-2 off turnovers. Krista Rabenberg gave the Peacock shooters fits as she registered 6 blocked shots.

UIU showed a lot of fight in the opening minutes of the second half cutting the lead to sixteen, 47-31, with thirteen minutes to play. A Melissa Fitz three-pointer prompted a Northern State timeout as the Peacocks cut the deficit to thirteen, 47-34. Northern State seemed to make the most of their timeout as they went on an 11-5 run to lead 58-39. After a UIU timeout, Britney Iredale hit a trifecta to break up the run.

With five minutes to play, the Peacocks trailed 61-46 and pulled within twelve, 61-49, on Lana Otting's second three of the game at the 4:20 mark. Following two Wolves' free throws, Fitz raced down the court for an old-fashioned three point play and Iredale added a free throw to cut the margin to ten, 63-53, with 3:30 to play. With 1:13 showing on the clock, the Wolves had possession and a 67-55 lead. A late three by Andrea Downs cut the margin to nine, but that's where the game would end, 67-58.

The Peacocks outscored the Wolves 45-30 in the second half, but could not get out of the first half hole. In the second twenty minutes, UIU shot 58% including 7 of 10 from beyond the arc. Three UIU players scored 11 points; Downs, Fitz, and Iredale. Otting dished out 5 assists. Paige DeVine led the Peacock rebounding effort with 6.

Upper Iowa (5-8, 1-5 NSIC) will now take to the road next weekend. The Peacocks will play the Mavericks of Minnesota State on Friday and the Mustangs of Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday. Both games will tip off at 6 p.m.