2022–23 Northern Iowa Panthers women's basketball team

2022–23 Northern Iowa Panthers women's basketball
2022–23 Northern Iowa Panthers women's basketball
WNIT, second round
Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
Record	23–10 (16–4 MVC)
Head coach	Tanya Warren (16th season);
Associate head coach	Brad Nelson
Assistant coaches	Nate Oakland; Katelin Oney;
Home arena	McLeod Center

2022–23 Missouri Valley Conference women's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Illinois State	17	–	3	.850	24	–	9	.727
Belmont	17	–	3	.850	23	–	12	.657
	16	–	4	.800	23	–	10	.697
Missouri State	14	–	6	.700	20	–	12	.625
Drake†	14	–	6	.700	22	–	9	.710
UIC	9	–	11	.450	19	–	17	.528
Southern Illinois	8	–	12	.400	12	–	19	.387
Murray State	7	–	13	.350	15	–	16	.484
Evansville	6	–	14	.300	11	–	19	.367
Indiana State	6	–	14	.300	11	–	19	.367
Valparaiso	5	–	15	.250	7	–	23	.233
Bradley	1	–	19	.050	4	–	28	.125

† 2023 MVC tournament winner As of March 19, 2023

The 2022–23 Northern Iowa Panthers women's basketball team represented the University of Northern Iowa during the 2022–23 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Panthers were led by head coach Tanya Warren in her sixteenth season, and played their home games at the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls, Iowa as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC).

The Panthers finished the season 23–10, 16–4 in MVC play, to finish in third place.^[1] In the MVC tournament, they defeated UIC in the quarterfinals^[2] before falling to Belmont in the semifinals.^[3] They received an at-large bid into the WNIT,^[4] where they defeated Colorado State in the first round,^[5] before falling to Nebraska in the second round.^[6]

Previous season

The Panthers finished the 2021–22 season with a 23–11 record, including 13–5 in Missouri Valley Conference play.^[7] They received a bid to the 2022 Women's National Invitation Tournament, where they advanced to the second round, in which they were defeated by Drake.^[8]

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Anaya Barney	1	G	5' 11"	Freshman	Cedar Falls, IA	Transferred to Coastal Carolina
Karli Rucker	3	G	5' 6"	Senior	Eldridge, IA	Graduated
Nicole Kroeger	5	G	5' 9"	Senior	Palmyra, MO	Graduated
Bre Gunnels	11	F	6' 1"	Senior	Kansas City, MO	Graduated
Taryn McKee	21	C	6' 3"	Freshman	Keosauqua, IA	Personal reasons
Sara McCullough	25	F	6' 0"	Redshirt Freshman	Ankeny, IA	Personal reasons
Kiana Barney	33	F	6' 1"	Redshirt Junior	Cedar Falls, IA	Graduated

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Previous school
Ellie Foster	3	G	5' 11"	Redshirt Freshman	Dike, IA	Green Bay
Rachael Heittola	32	C	6' 3"	Junior	Belleville, WI	Bemidji State

Roster

2022–23 Northern Iowa Panthers women's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	0	Maya McDermott	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)	So	Johnston	Johnston, IA
G	2	Cailyn Morgan	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	Jr	Iowa City West	Coralville, IA
G	3	Ellie Foster	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	RS Fr	Dike-New Hartford	Dike, IA
G	4	Emerson Green	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	So	Cedar Falls	Cedar Falls, IA
F	5	Ryley Goebel	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	Fr	Center Point-Urbana	Center Point, IA
G	12	Kam Finley	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	Sr	Cedar Falls	Cedar Falls, IA
G	14	Riley Wright	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	RS Fr	Marion	Marion, IA
G	22	Taryn Wharton	5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)	Fr	Bellevue West	Bellevue, NE
G	24	Kayba Laube	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	So	Marion	Marion, IA
C	30	Cynthia Wolf	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	Sr	Cedar Falls	Cedar Falls, IA
C	32	Rachael Heittola	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	Jr	Belleville	Belleville, WI
F	42	Grace Boffeli	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	So	North Scott	Eldridge, IA

Head coach

Tanya Warren (Creighton)

Assistant coach(es)

Brad Nelson (Oregon)
Nate Oakland (Northern Iowa)
Katelin Oney (Northern Iowa)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: March 20, 2023

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
November 1, 2022* 6:00 p.m.		Cornell	W 97–46	–	18 – Boffeli	11 – Boffeli	5 – McDermott	McLeod Center (1,832) Cedar Falls, IA
Non-conference regular season
November 7, 2022* 5:00 p.m., ESPN3		St. Thomas (MN)	W 58–46	1–0	19 – Boffeli	10 – Boffeli	2 – McDermott	McLeod Center (1,652) Cedar Falls, IA
November 13, 2022* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		Saint Louis	W 84–64	2–0	23 – McDermott	12 – Boffeli	5 – Boffeli	McLeod Center (1,966) Cedar Falls, IA
November 16, 2022* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		No. 7 Iowa State	L 85–88	2–1	26 – Boffeli	7 – Boffeli	3 – McDermott	McLeod Center (2,744) Cedar Falls, IA
November 20, 2022* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		No. 20 Creighton	L 66–85	2–2	14 – McDermott	8 – Goebel	2 – McDermott	McLeod Center (2,110) Cedar Falls, IA
November 24, 2022* 8:00 p.m., FloHoops		vs. Tulane Cancun Challenge	W 82–60	3–2	20 – McDermott	13 – Wolf	5 – Wolf	Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya (89) Puerto Aventuras, Mexico
November 25, 2022* 5:30 p.m., FloHoops		vs. Vanderbilt Cancun Challenge	W 65–62	4–2	15 – Boffeli	10 – Wolf	4 – Green	Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya (125) Puerto Aventuras, Mexico
December 3, 2022* 7:00 p.m., GoJacks.com		at South Dakota State	L 69–80	4–3	17 – Green	5 – Wolf	3 – McDermott	Frost Arena (1,859) Brookings, SD
December 6, 2022* 5:00 p.m., ESPN+		North Dakota State	W 79–70	5–3	17 – Boffeli	8 – Boffeli	3 – McDermott	McLeod Center (1,852) Cedar Falls, IA
December 18, 2022* 2:00 p.m., B1G+		at No. 12 Iowa	L 74–88	5–4	16 – Boffeli	8 – Wolf	3 – McDermott	Carver-Hawkeye Arena (13,394) Iowa City, IA
Missouri Valley Conference regular season
December 30, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN3		at Bradley	W 83–64	6–4 (1–0)	17 – Boffeli	7 – Boffeli	6 – McDermott	Renaissance Coliseum (400) Peoria, IL
January 1, 2023 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Illinois State	W 74–64	7–4 (2–0)	25 – Boffeli	12 – Boffeli	9 – McDermott	Redbird Arena (1,035) Normal, IL
January 6, 2023 6:00 p.m., ESPN3		Murray State	W 81–54	8–4 (3–0)	21 – Boffeli	14 – Boffeli	4 – McDermott	McLeod Center (1,814) Cedar Falls, IA
January 8, 2023 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		Belmont	L 61–67	8–5 (3–1)	14 – McDermott	9 – Wolf	3 – McDermott	McLeod Center (2,110) Cedar Falls, IA
January 11, 2023 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Drake	W 70–69	9–5 (4–1)	19 – McDermott	11 – Boffeli	6 – McDermott	Knapp Center (2,563) Des Moines, IA
January 15, 2023 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Evansville	W 73–68	10–5 (5–1)	17 – Boffeli	10 – Boffeli	4 – Wolf	Meeks Family Fieldhouse (382) Evansville, IN
January 19, 2023 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		Valparaiso	W 89–58	11–5 (6–1)	18 – Boffeli	8 – Wolf	3 – McDermott	McLeod Center (1,889) Cedar Falls, IA
January 21, 2023 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		UIC	W 79–44	12–5 (7–1)	12 – McDermott	8 – Boffeli	3 – Wharton	McLeod Center (1,966) Cedar Falls, IA
January 26, 2023 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Missouri State	L 67–71	12–6 (7–2)	17 – McDermott	7 – Boffeli	3 – McDermott	Great Southern Bank Arena (1,976) Springfield, MO
January 28, 2023 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Southern Illinois	W 94–81	13–6 (8–2)	26 – Green	10 – Boffeli	5 – Boffeli	Banterra Center (475) Carbondale, IL
February 1, 2023 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		Drake	W 49–47	14–6 (9–2)	12 – McDermott	11 – Boffeli	3 – McDermott	McLeod Center (2,757) Cedar Falls, IA
February 5, 2023 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		Indiana State	W 91–51	15–6 (10–2)	23 – Boffeli	8 – Boffeli	5 – Wharton	McLeod Center (2,278) Cedar Falls, IA
February 10, 2023 7:00 p.m., ESPN3		at UIC	W 55–47	16–6 (11–2)	20 – Boffeli	9 – Boffeli	5 – McDermott	Credit Union 1 Arena (923) Chicago, IL
February 12, 2023 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Valparaiso	W 83–60	17–6 (12–2)	19 – McDermott	11 – Boffeli	7 – McDermott	Athletics-Recreation Center (321) Valparaiso, IN
February 16, 2023 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		Illinois State	L 70–72	17–7 (12–3)	17 – McDermott	10 – Boffeli	3 – McDermott	McLeod Center (2,020) Cedar Falls, IA
February 18, 2023 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		Bradley	W 76–50	18–7 (13–3)	17 – Boffeli	7 – Boffeli	5 – McDermott	McLeod Center (2,086) Cedar Falls, IA
February 23, 2023 6:30 p.m., ESPN+		at Belmont	L 77–82	18–8 (13–4)	19 – Boffeli	11 – Boffeli	3 – McDermott	Curb Event Center (771) Nashville, TN
February 25, 2023 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Murray State	W 76–46	19–8 (14–4)	18 – Boffeli	11 – Boffeli	3 – McDermott	CFSB Center (1,314) Murray, KY
March 2, 2023 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		Southern Illinois	W 85–76	20–8 (15–4)	21 – Boffeli	11 – Boffeli	4 – McDermott	McLeod Center (1,913) Cedar Falls, IA
March 4, 2023 2:00 p.m., ESPN3		Missouri State	W 86–67	21–8 (16–4)	24 – Green	9 – Green	3 – Green	McLeod Center (2,351) Cedar Falls, IA
MVC tournament
March 10, 2023 8:30 p.m., ESPN+	(3)	vs. (6) UIC Quarterfinals	W 73–57	22–8	23 – Boffeli	8 – Boffeli	3 – Heittola	Vibrant Arena at The MARK (1,341) Moline, IL
March 11, 2023 4:00 p.m., ESPN+	(3)	vs. (2) Belmont Semifinals	L 62–69	22–9	15 – McDermott	13 – Boffeli	7 – McDermott	Vibrant Arena at The MARK (2,005) Moline, IL
Women's National Invitation Tournament
March 16, 2023 6:00 p.m., ESPN3		Colorado State First round	W 88–76	23–9	21 – McDermott	15 – Boffeli	5 – McDermott	McLeod Center (988) Cedar Falls, IA
March 19, 2023 2:00 p.m., B1G+		at Nebraska Second round	L 57–77	23–10	19 – McDermott	9 – Boffeli	2 – McDermott	Pinnacle Bank Arena (6,478) Lincoln, NE
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central.

Source:^[9]

References

^ "2022-23 Women's Basketball Standings". Missouri Valley Conference. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
^ "UNI women's basketball extinguish UIC Flames 73-57". UNI Athletics. March 11, 2023. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
^ Southard, Dargan (March 11, 2023). "Northern Iowa women's basketball falters late in MVC Tournament semifinal loss to Belmont". Des Moines Register. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
^ "Bracket, Round 1 matchups and times announced for 2023 Postseason WNIT". WNIT Pre and Post Tournament. March 13, 2023. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
^ Blair, Cole (March 16, 2023). "UNI advances in WNIT with efficient 88-76 win over Colorado State". The Gazette. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
^ "Nebraska Women's Basketball downs UNI 77-57 to advance in WNIT". Corn Nation. March 19, 2023. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
^ "2021-22 Women's Basketball Standings". mvc-sports.com. Retrieved April 17, 2025.
^ "UNI eliminated from WNIT with 62-55 loss to Drake". wcfcourier.com. March 23, 2022. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
^ "2022-23 Women's Basketball Schedule". unipanthers.com. Retrieved March 20, 2023.

[1] "2022-23 Women's Basketball Standings". Missouri Valley Conference. Retrieved March 4, 2024.

[2] "UNI women's basketball extinguish UIC Flames 73-57". UNI Athletics. March 11, 2023. Retrieved March 4, 2024.

[3] Southard, Dargan (March 11, 2023). "Northern Iowa women's basketball falters late in MVC Tournament semifinal loss to Belmont". Des Moines Register. Retrieved March 4, 2024.

[4] "Bracket, Round 1 matchups and times announced for 2023 Postseason WNIT". WNIT Pre and Post Tournament. March 13, 2023. Retrieved March 4, 2024.

[5] Blair, Cole (March 16, 2023). "UNI advances in WNIT with efficient 88-76 win over Colorado State". The Gazette. Retrieved March 4, 2024.

[6] "Nebraska Women's Basketball downs UNI 77-57 to advance in WNIT". Corn Nation. March 19, 2023. Retrieved March 4, 2024.

[7] "2021-22 Women's Basketball Standings". mvc-sports.com. Retrieved April 17, 2025.

[8] "UNI eliminated from WNIT with 62-55 loss to Drake". wcfcourier.com. March 23, 2022. Retrieved March 20, 2023.

[9] "2022-23 Women's Basketball Schedule". unipanthers.com. Retrieved March 20, 2023.

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Northern Iowa Panthers women's basketball
Venues	UNI-Dome (1978–2006) McLeod Center (2006–present)
Rivalries	Drake
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2023–24 2024–25