Box Score Photo Gallery

Records
 
Upper Iowa (4-10, 3-7 NSIC) || U-Mary (6-7, 4-6 NSIC)
 

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Recap
 
Looking to end a four-game losing streak, the Upper Iowa Women's Basketball team headed into Saturday afternoon's battle with visiting U-Mary with redemption on their minds. Yet despite some late-game heroics from Lauren Buck, the Peacock couldn't pull off the upset at home. U-Mary shot 42-percent from the floor en route to the four-point victory over UIU, 64-60.
 
The Marauders jumped out to a 10-6 lead five minutes into the game with four points coming from U-Mary's Brittney Dietz, but the Peacocks battled right back to tie the game at 10-all. Whitney Kieffer found the net for the first time on a drive to the paint and Sam Thrapp hit a pair of free throws to pull UIU even with their guests. It took another minute and a half before UIU stole the lead.
 
With her team down, 14-12, Thrapp drained a long three-pointer thanks to a kick-out pass from Kieffer. The Marauder's Linda Murray answered right back on the next possession as she started a 12-2 U-Mary run, with Kieffer earning the only points for UIU during that six and a half minute span.
 
With the Marauders now leading by ten points, 30-20, Carly Pagel helped shift the momentum in UIU's favor with a layup in traffic. Thrapp followed that up with another trifecta giving her a team-high 10 points in the first half. Kieffer added a layup after forcing a steal on the defensive end and UIU was down by just three points, 30-27 with 1:56 remaining before the half.
 
The Marauders closed the half on a 4-2 run to take a 34-29 lead into intermission. UIU shot just 30-percent from the floor in the first half, but did force 11 Marauder turnovers while giving it up only seven times.
 
The break helped the home team. UIU stepped on the court in the second half and jumped on the Marauders early. Lauren Buck hit two free throws to begin an 8-4 run over the first three and a half minutes of the final period. That offensive spurt, which was capped by two Kieffer foul shots, pulled UIU within one point, 38-37.
 
U-Mary took the next four points, but Buck was just getting warmed up. The junior from Anamosa, Iowa converted a three-point play before hitting a pull-up jumper on the Peacocks' next possession. Buck's big shot tied the game at 42-42 with 13:23 left to go in regulation.
 
Kieffer found the net again, but her bucket was sandwiched between two U-Mary field goals as the Marauders retook the lead, 46-44, at the 10:55 mark. The Peacocks turned back to Thrapp and Pagel. The duo combined for four-straight points as UIU earned its first lead of the second half and first lead since the 18:37 mark in the opening period.
 
Unfortunately for UIU, that was the last time the Peacocks held the lead.
 
The Marauders went on another run – it started as a 9-0 run, but before U-Mary was done the visitors extended their lead to nine points, 60-51, with 3:24 left in regulation. The Peacocks didn't quit – Buck hit a jumper before Lindsay Carroll added a long two of her own. Still up by five, U-Mary added one of two free throw shots from Mckenzie Foster before Buck showed off some late-game heroics. The junior had five points in the final 22 seconds to pull UIU within three points, 63-60, but it wasn't enough.
 
Lindsey Sand hit three of her four free throws down the stretch and that proved to be enough for the win as U-Mary sealed the 63-60 victory on the road.
 
UIU could never find the groove offensively shooting just 31-percent in the game and adding just nine assists.
 

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Stat of the Game
 
U-Mary nearly doubled-up the Peacocks in the paint as the Marauders outscored UIU, 42-22, in the lane.  
 

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UIU Standouts
 
Buck (18 points, 8 rebounds), Kieffer (14 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals), Thrapp (13 points, 4 assists, 2 steals), Pagel (7 points, 9 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal)
 

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Up Next
 
The Peacocks will hit the road next Friday as UIU heads to Sioux Falls, S.D. on Jan. 17 to battle the Cougars of USF.