Carly Pagel became the twelfth Peacock women's basketball player to join the Upper Iowa 1,000-point club on Saturday during UIU's 73-64 loss to Wayne State College in Fayette. Pagel scored 17 including her 1,000th point midway through the third quarter. The Sumner, Iowa product is the first Peacock to join the club since
Whitney Kieffer gained membership in her junior season (2014). Pagel has now scored 1,010 points in Peacock blue and white.
The Peacocks and Wildcats battled tooth and nail during the first and second quarters as the defensives controlled the pace of play in the NSIC South showdown. Wayne State led 24-22 at the halftime break; the lead could have been more, but Upper Iowa closed the second quarter with a 5-0 run over the final two minutes.
After the defensive struggle in the first two quarters, the offenses got loose and took the lid off the basket. UIU continued where they left off prior to halftime and took a two-point lead, 28-26, on a three-pointer from
Ashley Ray. Ray's second three-pointer of the quarter gave UIU a 33-30 edge and Pagel's milestone basket inside put the home team ahead 38-34 midway through the third. A pair of free throws by
Blair Klostermann, who netted a new career-high of 34 points, fueled Upper Iowa's largest lead of the night, 45-40, with 1:44 on the clock. Wayne State ended the quarter with a 5-0 run and tied the game at 45-45 going to the final period.
Three minutes into the fourth, Klostermann converted a three-point play and Pagel knocked down a jumper in the paint to knot the score at 50-50 and minutes later the home team trailed by only three, 57-54, after another two Klostermann freebies. Unfortunately for the home fans, Wayne State broke the lead open with a 7-0 run that only took a minute off the clock. WSC controlled the final four and a half minutes to keep the Peacocks at arm's length and pick up the 73-64 win.
Klostermann's 34 points came on 11-19 shooting including 3-4 from deep; the Dyersville, Iowa native also converted all 9 of her free throw attempts and pulled down 4 rebounds. Pagel registered a double-double with her 17 points and 12 rebounds, 9 of which were on the offensive end. Ray added 9 points on a trio of three-pointers, while
Haley Martin (2) and
Ashley Rosenstiel (2) were the only other two Peacocks to score.
UIU's 21 turnovers proved to be too much to overcome as the Wildcats converted the giveaways into 20 points. Wayne State also took advantage of their opportunities at the charity stripe knocking down 27 of their 32 attempts; UIU hit 14 of their 18 chances at the free throw line.
The Peacocks will stay at home next weekend for a pair of NSIC cross division games. UIU will host the University of Mary on Friday at 6 p.m. and Minot State University on Saturday at 4 p.m.
