Southern Illinois visits Goebel and Northern Iowa

Published Jan. 3, 2026 4:43 a.m. ET
Associated Press

Southern Illinois Salukis (2-9, 0-3 MVC) at Northern Iowa Panthers (7-6, 3-0 MVC)

Cedar Falls, Iowa; Sunday, 3 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Northern Iowa faces Southern Illinois after Ryley Goebel scored 23 points in Northern Iowa's 75-74 win over the UIC Flames.

The Panthers have gone 1-3 in home games. Northern Iowa averages 61.5 points while outscoring opponents by 1.3 points per game.

The Salukis have gone 0-3 against MVC opponents. Southern Illinois ranks ninth in the MVC shooting 26.4% from 3-point range.

Northern Iowa scores 61.5 points per game, 11.2 fewer points than the 72.7 Southern Illinois gives up. Southern Illinois averages 4.4 made 3-pointers per game this season, 2.3 fewer made shots on average than the 6.7 per game Northern Iowa gives up.

The matchup Sunday is the first meeting this season for the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Jenna Twedt averages 2.1 made 3-pointers per game for the Panthers, scoring 10.8 points while shooting 32.1% from beyond the arc. Goebel is shooting 60.2% and averaging 14.1 points over the past 10 games.

Alayna Kraus is averaging 16.5 points for the Salukis. Kayla Cooper is averaging 1.6 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Panthers: 7-3, averaging 65.1 points, 33.1 rebounds, 14.6 assists, 7.4 steals and 3.8 blocks per game while shooting 42.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 58.4 points per game.

Salukis: 1-9, averaging 59.4 points, 32.3 rebounds, 10.3 assists, 7.3 steals and 2.2 blocks per game while shooting 35.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 74.7 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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