Creighton women’s basketball takes on rival University of Northern Iowa Friday night.

Creighton will look to go above .500 for the first time since Dec. 21 and make up some ground in the tight Missouri Valley Conference standings on Friday night at D.J. Sokol Arena.

Standing in its way will be rival and defending MVC tournament and regular- season champions the University of Northern Iowa Panthers. The Panthers currently sit in second place in the conference standings with a 5-2 record in Valley play.

A preseason season-ending knee injury to preseason MVC Player of the Year Jacqui Kalin has done little to slow down the Panthers, who boast a lineup full of experience and talent, especially from beyond the arc.

Northern Iowa’s four-guard lineup has averaged nearly seven 3-pointers each game this season; a mark that ranks 24th best in the nation.

Creighton will again need to turn to sophomore guard Carli Tritz to have another solid shooting performance. To say the least, Tritz has shot hot during conference play. She is shooting 54 percent from field-goal range and 47 percent from beyond the arc in conference games heading into Friday’s matchup. Both percentages lead the team in games played against Valley foes.

Perhaps the highlight of Tritz’s already fine season came this past Friday. With 2.0 seconds remaining in the second half in a tied 62-62 game at Indiana State University, Tritz, sneaking around a screen set by Sophomore forward Sarah Nelson, cashed a jumper from near the left elbow to cap a game-ending 14-2 run in the road victory.

In order to beat the second place Panthers and even their conference record to 4-4, key players other than Tritz must step up for the Bluejays. Sophomore forward Sarah Nelson, who has recorded six double-doubles this season, needs to be effective on the glass and needs to be fed the ball more on the inside. Nelson is not only a great scorer with the ball inside, but her having the ball in the paint opens up opportunities on the outside.

Junior guard Ally Jensen, who is capable of matching Northern Iowa’s outside attack if she can get hot from behind the 3-point line, will have to knock down her shots.

Tip-off for the rivalry matchup is set at D.J. Sokol Arena for 7:05 p.m.

Keys to the game:

• Tritz scoring early and often

• Nelson picking up another double-double (Creighton has a 4-2 record in the games Nelson has had a double- double)

• Team shooting percentage over 44 percent (Northern Iowa is 12-0 this season when holding opponents under 44 percent shooting)