The Peacocks concluded Senior Day on the highest possible note as they defeated the McKendree Bearcats 68-66 on a game winner as time expired.
 
Anna Soler opened the scoring with a contested layup and she followed that up by scoring another bucket in the paint. Halfway through the first, Mia Huberty swished a three pointer and Lindsey Davis would add a three from the corner on a backdoor cut assist from Soler. Davis added a pull up two pointer on the following possession and a Soler three pointer extended Upper Iowa's lead to six. McKendree had a great opportunity to cut the deficit as they had a fastbreak opportunity, but Davis came from out of nowhere to deny the Bearcat layup with a chase down block.
 
With the Peacocks up 17-14 entering the second, Bohr scored a three pointer from the corner and she added a layup on the following possession. Soler continued to shoot lights out in the first half as she scored her second shot from beyond the arc, before adding a layup on three defenders to put UIU up 27-16. Huberty would also score her second three of the half, before recording a steal two possessions later that led to an Ava Privet fastbreak three. The Bearcats caught fire halfway through the second as they scored on a two-point jumper before knocking down three consecutive three pointers. They closed out the quarter on a 15-0 run to take a 34-33 lead at the break.
 
The Bearcats hot shooting continued throughout the third as they boosted their lead to 47-36 as they swished back-to-back threes before recording an and one layup. Bohr responded with a jumper in the paint and Huberty added consecutive two-point baskets. With the Peacocks down seven, Brooke Lechleitner drove to the basket and she kicked out a perfect pass to Sydnee Nelson who swished her three pointer from the elbow. Bohr scored another shot from beyond the arc two possessions later, but a McKendree three pointer would help them maintain a 54-48 lead after three quarters of action.
 
Staley started to take over in the fourth quarter as she scored a layup on a perfect pass from Bohr and she added another layup a minute later. Staley then scored a midrange jumper from the elbow right before the shot clock expired, which cut the McKendree lead to one. The Bearcats added to their lead with a pair of free throws and followed that up with a layup. The Peacocks responded with Davis scoring a midrange shot while Soler hit a spin move layup to make it a one-point game. Huberty would then put the Peacocks ahead 62-61 as she hit a heavily contested fadeaway from the corner.
 
With less than a minute remaining, Soler drove past her defender and scored another layup to put the Peacocks up three. The Bearcats quickly recorded a mid-range jump shot and with the team forced to foul, Huberty cashed both of her free throws to help UIU maintain a 66-63 lead. On McKendree's final possession, they missed a three from the corner, but Kyra Taylor hauled in the offensive rebound. She dished out a pass to Maci Meyer who scored the game-tying three pointer with two seconds remaining.
 
With the Peacocks inbounding, Staley's pass was deflected by the McKendree defense and Staley picked the ball off the ground with 0.9 seconds left. She pulled up for an off balance fadeaway shot on the three-point line which swished through the hoop as time expired to give the Peacocks a triumphant 68-66 win.
 
Following the victory, the Peacocks honored their phenomenal class of six seniors as Avery Fried, Abbie Riederer, Anna Soler, Kayla Bohr, Helen Staley and Mia Huberty were met with cheers and applause from family, friends and fans of the Peacocks.
 
Anna Soler dropped her season-high on her Senior Day, with 18 points on 8-15 shooting. She shot 2-4 from beyond the arc, hauled in a team-high eight rebounds and added three assists.
 
Mia Huberty scored 16 points on 6-13 shooting while also shooting 2-4 from three-point range. She knocked down both her free throw attempts and added three rebounds and four assists. On the defensive side, Huberty was the only player in the game to record both a steal and a block.
 
Helen Staley put up 11 points on 5-6 shooting, highlighted by the game winning shot at the buzzer. She matched Soler with a team-high eight boards while leading the squad with three assists.
 
Kayla Bohr added ten points on 4-12 shooting with two rebounds on the offensive end.
 
With the victory, Upper Iowa maintains seventh place in the GLVC point rating system, with a 10-9 conference record.

The Peacocks will remain in Fayette for the regular season finale against nationally ranked Lewis on Saturday, Mar. 1 at 1 p.m.