The UNI women’s basketball team came up just short of a Hoops in the Heartland Championship on Sunday with a 50-48 loss to Illinois State. A slow start and finish ended up costing the Panthers. The Redbirds started the game on a 10-2 run and the Panthers went cold in the final five minutes, ending up on the wrong end of an 8-0 to finish the contest.

Karli Rucker led UNI with 16 points. It was the third-lowest scoring MVC championship game in history. UNI falls just short of that automatic NCAA Tournament bid and with a 22-10 record are likely participants in the WNIT.

Illinois State was led by 21 points from Juliunn Redmond and 15 from Maya Wong. The Redbirds enter the NCAA Tourney with a record of 19-13.