Feb. 24, 2008

Box Score

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -

            University of Northern Iowa freshman Jacqui Kalin knocked down a deep three at the buzzer to give the Panthers a 72-70 win over in-state rival Drake Sunday afternoon in the McLeod Center. Nicole Clausen grabbed an offensive rebound with less than five seconds remaining, and the Panthers called time out with 1.2 seconds left to set up the game-winning shot.

Kalin finished 5-of-6 from three point range and tied a career high with 27 points. She came one assist shy of a double-double, dishing out a career-high nine. Clausen notched her first career double-double, scoring 16 and grabbing 10 rebounds. Senior Traci Ollendieck, who was playing in her final game in the McLeod Center, scored 11 points and grabbed two rebounds for UNI.

            Four Bulldogs scored in double figures, led by Lindsay Whorton's 15 points. Monique Jones finished with 13 points, and Jill Martin and Lauren Dybing added 12 and 11, respectively.

            The teams went back and forth through much of the first half, trading leads three times and tying the game seven times in the first half. Neither team led by more than five through the first 20 minutes of play.

            Drake took a 31-26 lead on a jump shot from Whorton with 1:50 left in the first half. Clausen hit one of two free throws to make it a four-point game, and Ollendieck hit her second three of the game to pull the Panthers within one with 1:10 on the clock. Jordann Plummer hit a layup with just under a minute remaining to send the Bulldogs into the break with a 33-30 lead.

            Martin scored on Drake's first possession of the second half to extend the Bulldogs' lead to 35-30. A basket from Lizzie Boeck brought the Panther deficit back to three, and a pair of free throws from Kalin made it a one-point game. Ollendieck hit a jumper at 16:50 to put the Panthers back in front, 36-35, and Boeck hit a pair of free throws that gave UNI a 38-35 lead with 16:22 remaining. A three from Clausen at 15:59 gave the Panthers points on five straight possessions, and capped an 11-0 run that put UNI in front 41-35.

            Drake chipped away at the UNI lead, and at 13:52, Martin hit a pair of free throws to cut the Panthers' lead to 42-41. Clausen hit a three on the Panthers' next possession to stretch UNI's lead back to four points.

            Martin and UNI's Erin Brocka traded baskets, and Kalin hit a jump shot with 11 minutes left to put UNI in front, 49-43.

            A pair of free throws from Whorton and a layup from Plummer cut the Panther lead to two, but Kalin drained a three to put the Panthers back up by five, 52-47 with 10:17 remaining.

            At 9:56, Whorton connected from the charity stripe again, but Kalin hit her second three in as many possessions to stretch the Panther advantage to 55-49.

            Dybing hit a jump shot and Kristin Turk hit a three to make it a one-point game, but Kalin hit her third three of the half to put the Panthers up 58-54 with 6:44 left to play.

            Ashleigh Brady and Whorton scored for Drake to tie the game at 58-58, and with 4:26 to play, Whorton hit one of two free throws to put Drake back in front, 59-58.

            Kalin answered with a pair of free throws on the other end, returning a one-point lead to UNI.

            At 3:47, Dybing made a layup to put the Bulldogs back in front, and Whorton was fouled as she made a layup at 2:55. She connected on the free throw to give Darke a 64-60 lead.

            Clausen hit a three on the Panthers' ensuing possession to pull the Panthers within a point. Martin and Alexa Menne traded baskets to keep it at a one-point game, 66-65 in favor of Drake, with less than two minutes to play.

            Clausen put the Panthers back in the lead when she hit a pair of free throws with 1:22 remaining.

            Martin found Jones under the basket, and her layup gave the Bulldogs a 67-68 advantage with 1:08 on the clock.

            Kalin hit a short jump shot on the Panthers' next possession to give UNI a 69-68 edge. With 32 seconds left, Dybing made a layup to give Drake a 70-69 lead.

            The Panthers set up to take the game's final shot. Kalin drove into the lane and found Brocka open at the elbow. Her shot with five seconds remaining did everything but go down, but Clausen was able to collect the offensive rebound to give UNI its chance at the game-winning shot. Coming out of a time out, Kalin came off a screen by Mennen and was able to get the 25-foot shot off just before the buzzer sounded.

            The Panthers were 24-of-61 (39.3 percent) from the floor, including 11-of-28 (39.3 percent) from three-point range. UNI was 13-of-17 (76.5 percent) from the free-throw line.

            Drake shot 26-of-51 (51 percent) from the floor, including 2-of-10 (20 percent) from three-point range. The Bulldogs were 16-of-24 (66.7 percent) from the free-throw line.

            UNI outrebounded Drake, 35-32. The Panthers were able to turn 17 offensive rebounds into 16 second-chance points.

            The Panthers return to action on Thursday when they play at Evansville.