WHO: Northern Iowa Panthers (1-0)
WHEN: 2:00 PM CT (Sunday, November 12, 2023)
WHERE: McLeod Center (Cedar Falls, Iowa)
TV: KCRG 9.2 (antenna req'd) in Eastern Iowa
RADIO: Hawkeye Radio Network
ONLINE: https://plus.espn.com
MOBILE: www.espn.com/app
FOLLOW: @IowaAwesome | @IowaWBB | @IowaonBTN
On November 25, 2020, just after 6:30 PM, Caitlin Clark scored the first points of her collegiate career against Northern Iowa in a nearly empty Carver Hawkeye Arena. On Sunday, if Clark scores 16 points she will become Iowa's all-time leading scorer, surpassing Megan Gustafson. She will do so in a McLeod Center that UNI sold out for the very first time, in large part because of Clark's presence.
In less than three years, Clark has changed women's basketball forever. On Sunday, she will likely make history yet again against her very first college opponent.
Stats in this article are from HerHoopStats.
Northern Iowa
Northern Iowa coach Tanya Warren has been at UNI since 2007. During her time in charge, the Panthers have rarely been bad, though they have only made the NCAA Tournament three times -- in 2010, 2011, and 2017. The Panthers hae won the Missouri Valley Conference regular season title and conference tournament title twice each during Warren's tenure.
During Clark's time at Iowa, the Hawkeyes have had some relatively close games against the Panthers, but have never truly been on upset alert. Iowa beat UNI 96-81 in Clark's first collegiate game in 2020. In 2021, the Hawkeyes beat the Panthers 82-61 in Cedar Falls. Last year, Iowa beat UNI 88-74.
The 2021 game at UNI was interesting for more than the score. During the game, Clark was given a technical foul for jawing with Coach Warren after hitting a three.
Top Players
UNI returns three of its five starters from last year. In game one of the 2023-24 season every Panther starters was an Iowa native.
UNI's star player is Grace Boffeli a 6'1" forward from Eldridge who was a prep star at North Scott. Boffeli was named pre-season Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year this year. Last year she averaged 16.1 ppg and 9.2 rpg while shooting 57.5% on 2-point attempts and 40.5% on 3-point attempts. She also averaged 6.5 free throw attempts per game.
Boffeli is UNI's tallest starter, so Iowa might choose to go small again in this game. Iowa could match Hannah Stuelke against Boffeli in player-to-player defense. Stuelke would have an athleticism advantage in that matchup, but fouls could again be an issue. Stuelke was very effective offensively against Virginia Tech, but spent most of the game on the bench due to foul trouble.
Iowa could instead put Kate Martin or Sydney Affolter on Boffeli without giving up too much of a size advantage. Sharon Goodman or Addison O'Grady would likely match with Boffeli if Iowa uses a bigger lineup.
Like Georgia Amoore in Iowa's last game, UNI point guard Maya McDermott is a smaller point guard who is a scoring threat from 2 or 3. Last year, McDermott, a Johnston native, averaged 14.7 ppg and 3.5 apg and shot 51.9% on 2-point attempts and 37.7% on 3-point attempts.
Emerson Green was a highly rated recruit from Cedar Falls that decided to stay home and play for the Panthers like her brother AJ Green. Emerson averaged 11.4 ppg and shot 42.2% from three-point range last season.
Finally, the Panthers also have Shateah Wetering, who spent three seasons at Iowa before transferring to UNI in the off-season. At Iowa, she was never able to consistently break into the rotation. She started Northern Iowa's first game (finishing with 7 points, 2 steals, a rebound, and an assist) and will look to make a bigger impact in Cedar Falls.
Play Style
Last year, UNI had a very good offense -- the Panthers averaged 74.6 points per game, which ranked 31st nationally. Much of their success stemmed from shooting -- the Panthers shot shot 50.3% on 2-point shots (35th nationally) and 35.1% on 3-point shots (34th).
The ability to take care of the ball was another key factor in UNI's offensive success. The Panthers averaged just 12.3 turnovers per game last year (12th nationally). Offensive rebounding was not part of UNI's formula for offensive success -- the Panthers' offensive rebounding rate of 27.3% ranked just 276th nationally.
UNI was not particularly strong on defense last season; the Panthers allowed 65.5 ppg last season, which ranked 197th. Like Virginia Tech, the Panthers also weren't very good at forcing steals last year, averaging only 7.1 per game (215th nationally).
Avoiding the Trap
This is a trap game for several reasons. The first reason is circumstantial: Iowa is coming off one of the biggest non-conference wins of the Bluder Era over #8 Virginia Tech on a neutral court and on Thursday, the Hawks has a rematch against a Kansas State team that upset them last season. The Wildcats feature center Ayoka Lee, who holds the NCAA record for most points in a game with 61.
Sandwiched in between those two big games is this game with UNI, a team Iowa clearly outmatches on paper. It would be natural for the Hawkeyes to not focus as much on the Panthers coming off a big win and with another marquee matchup coming up in a few days. That lack of focus can precede an eventual upset.
The other trap game warning sign is the in-state rivalry factor. UNI has 10 native Iowans on its roster and most if not all of them probably dreamed of playing for Iowa in the past. Many have played with or against at least one player on Iowa's roster. They will all empty their tanks to to try and pull the upset against the 3rd-ranked Hawkeyes.
If Iowa comes in prepared and plays its game, this should be a relatively comfortable win. If the Hawks come out flat or fail to match UNI's intensity, then game could easily turn out like Iowa's game at Drake last year where the Hawks had to win a slugfest in overtime.
