The UNI women open a difficult Missouri Valley Conference road trip on Thursday night with a visit to Belmont. The Panthers are 7-5 in the Valley while Belmont sits at the top of the standings with a record of 11-1. The trip concludes on Saturday with a visit to a Murray State team that is tied for third in the league race with Drake at 9-3.

That’s Panther coach Tanya Warren who says two areas that become even more important on the road are defense and rebounding.