THIS WEEK IN PEACOCK WOMEN'S BASKETBALL… Upper Iowa begins their 2023-24 campaign at home against in-state opponent Graceland on Saturday, Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. This will be the first of three straight non-conference games to start the season, and the only one that will be at home.
LIVE COVERAGE OPTIONS… Upper Iowa offers numerous ways for you to stay connected to women's basketball this week. Webcasts for every game can be found through the GLVC website at
https://glvcsn.com/uiu/. Live Stats and the webcast can be found at
https://uiupeacocks.com/coverage. Both links will be included with this story.
SEEKING SUCCESS… The Peacocks are coming off a 10-18 season, where they went 6-16 in conference play. Their 2022-23 season was highlighted by three straight conference wins that saw them defeat Minnesota State Moorhead, Northern State and Wayne State. Head Coach
Justin Maass returns for his second season with the Peacocks, and looks to improve on the positive impact he has already made on the program. In his first season with the team, he led Upper Iowa to their winningest season since 2001-02 while earning a spot in the NSIC Tournament.
GLVC PRESEASON COACHES' POLL… UIU was picked to finish 11th out of the 14 teams in the GLVC after receiving 45 points. They trail 10th ranked Rockhurst and rank ahead of Southwest Baptist, Illinois-Springfield and William Jewell. The poll was led by reigning GLVC Tournament runner-up Lewis who received 164 points with eight first place votes. Reigning tournament champions Drury were voted to finish in second with 150 points and four first place votes, as they are coming off a season where they went 31-2.
SUPERIOR STARTERS… Upper Iowa returns two starters from last season in grad student
Brooke Evenson and junior
Mia Huberty. Evenson will be competing in her fifth year with the Peacocks, where she has appeared in 96 games making 74 starts. She averaged 6.5 points and 3.9 rebounds per game last season, while recording 13 blocks and 15 steals. Huberty has started in 35 of the 45 games she has appeared in over her first two seasons, averaging a career-high 8.7 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. She has shot 35.4% from 3-point range for her career and recorded 14 steals this previous season.
SIXTH MAN SENSATION… Grad student and returning leading scorer
Katie Tornstrom returns for her fourth season with UIU, after appearing in 27 out of 28 games off the bench this past season. Tornstrom averaged 13.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game on 32.1% 3-point shooting and recorded a career-high 30 points in only 25 minutes played against Winona State. Seven other reserves return from last season, which includes:
NOTABLE NEWCOMER… The Peacocks welcome senior transfer
Kayla Bohr who spent her first three seasons at Wisconsin-Parkside. Bohr appeared in 74 games while making four starts over her collegiate career. She averaged 7.7 points and 3.6 rebounds per game as a junior, while shooting 41.1% from the field.
FIRST-EVER MEETING WITH GRACELAND… Graceland is coming off a 9-19 season, where they lost their final eight games. The Yellowjackets return their two leading scorers from last season in seniors Heaven Mbaruk and Vegas Camacho. Mbaruk averaged a team high 11.6 points and 7.4 rebounds per game, while also accumulating 1.1 steals per game. Camacho averaged 8.9 points, 2.1 rebounds and a team-high 3.1 assists per game. Notable reserves include sophomore Janiyah Davis who averaged 4.5 points per game as well as senior Claudinae Hurt who averaged 3.2 points per game.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS… Following their season opener, the Peacocks will have back-to-back road games before GLVC play officially starts. They take on Oklahoma Christian on Friday, Nov. 17 before playing Newman University on Saturday, Nov. 18. The times for both these games have yet to be determined.
