UNI Preparing To Play Nebraska In WNIT

The UNI Panthers received an automatic bid to the Women’s National Invitation Tournament after winning the regular season Missouri Valley Conference title.

The Panthers will play Nebraska in Lincoln, Neb., on Thursday (March 17, 2016).

This is UNI’s sixth post-season appearance in the last seven seasons, including back-to-back invitations to the WNIT. UNI has earned eight selections to post-season tournaments in program history, with six of those coming under the direction of three-time MVC Coach of the Year Tanya Warren.

The Panthers accepted bids to play in the WNIT in five previous seasons, including 2001, 2003, 2006, 2013 and 2015.

UNI has faced the Nebraska Cornhuskers six times in school history. Th last meeting took place in the first-round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament in Minneapolis.

The Panthers are coming off their seventh-straight winning season with 17 or more victories. The Panthers are currently 22-10 overall, the most wins in a season since they finished 27-6 in 2010-11.

UNI claimed the Missouri Valley Conference regular season title in 2015-16, wrapping up league play on an eight-game winning streak. The Panthers turned the streak into a 10-game run by advancing to the finals of the MVC Tournament this past weekend.

Along with two team trophies and a coach of the year award, the Panthers also brought home some hardware on the individual side of things. Madison Weekly and Amber Sorenson were both named to the All-Conference first-team while Jen Keitel earned honorable mention and Sharnae Lamar was selected to the All-Defense team. Weekly and Lamar also both landed on the All-Tournament team after their spectacular performances over a span of three games in Moline, Ill.

Off the court, Weekly racked up three recognitions after being named the MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, MVC Elite 18 Award winner and Scholar-Athlete first-team. Stephanie Davison, Sorenson and Keitel also were selected to the Scholar-Athlete honorable mention squad.

An official game time for UNI’s first-round WNIT game at Nebraska will be set on Tuesday. For more information, go to www.UNIPanthers.com.