The Lady Peacocks put up 28 points in the first quarter against Minnesota State, but could not put together a complete game as they endured a 99-82 loss in their last regular season contest. Despite the loss, the Upper Iowa women's basketball team has earned postseason berth for the first time since the 2019-20 season. Upper Iowa claimed a No. 6 seed, the highest seed the UIU women's basketball program has had since being a part of the NSIC.
Upper Iowa put up a monstrous 28 points in the first period, outscoring their opponents 28-17. The Peacocks relied on their three-point shooting in the opening period as they converted 5-8 from long range to help them propel their lead on the Mavericks.
Callista Rochon-Baker led the way for her team in the first period as she scored a total of ten points, including three triples.
Minnesota State put together a huge second quarter as they tallied a total of 27 points after shooting over 60% from the floor and 50% from three-point land. The Peacocks struggled as they were only able to score a total of 13 points. The Mavericks strung together a 13-0 run early on in the second segment, taking the lead 41-35. Upper Iowa retaliated with a 6-0 slide of their own, tying up the game with just over a minute before halftime. Minnesota State scored on their next two possessions, commanding a 44-41 lead going into the half.
The Mavericks continued their stellar shooting trend as they netted another 28 points and shot over 60% from the floor in the third session. The contest was tied at 47 when Minnesota State strung together a 6-0 run behind buckets from Joey Batt and Natalie Bremmer. The Mavericks maintained a consistent lead and with just under three minutes left of the quarter, strung together another 6-0 slide to push their advantage to 66-54. The Peacocks were only able to convert 38% of their shots and went into the fourth quarter down 72-61.
Minnesota State continued to put up big numbers as they shot over 60% once again and scored 27 points in the fourth quarter. In the final ten minutes of the contest, they put together an 11-0 run to push out their lead even further and seal the game.
Rochon-Baker scored a career-high 18 points in tonight's contest. She was 6-10 from the field and 5-8 (62%) from beyond the arc.
Brooke Evenson shot 50% from the field and contributed 15 points.
Lydia Haack followed behind her with 14 points and six assists.
The Peacocks play their first playoff game next week on Wednesday, Feb. 22 at Northern State. A win in Aberdeen, S.D. would send them to the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D to continue postseason and take Augustana University.
