MOLINE, Illinois — It hasn't been quite the season Grace Boffeli envisioned back in October.
Northern Iowa was picked as the favorite to win the Missouri Valley Conference and Boffeli — a North Scott grad — was tabbed as the conference's preseason player of the year.
But a tough schedule that included a date with national runners-up Iowa, as well as injuries — including to Boffeli — had the Panthers struggling to find their footing for much of the first half of the season.
With Boffeli now fully healthy, she and the Panthers feel they're rounding back into the form that brought the preseason hype.
And at the perfect time.
"This is the best time of the year to play, in March," Boffeli said. "Our team has gone through a lot of adversity but I'm super glad that we're back and we're healthy."
Surging into the MVC Women's Tournament this week on a four-game winning streak, fourth-seeded UNI takes on Illinois State Friday at 2:30 p.m.
"We're starting to play really good basketball," UNI Head Coach Tanya Warren said. "We're confident, we're starting to be able to get stops defensively and switch up what we're doing defensively. And then our offense is starting to click."
And despite the ups and downs, a big goal of UNI's is still very much in reach. The winner of the tournament earns an automatic bid into next week's NCAA Tournament.
Boffeli is excited for the opportunity, returning to play just minutes away from her hometown.
"To see family and friends back at home and play in front of a big crowd, I'm super excited," Boffeli said. "Anything can happen in March. Our coaches keep telling us, we were damaged but we're not destroyed.
"With everyone back from injury, this is our time."
An all-state player who led North Scott to three Iowa Class 4A state titles, Boffeli has been a key piece for the Panthers for most of her career. She was named to the all-tournament team in her second season and earned first-team all-conference and all-tournament team honors last season.
This year, Boffeli's season took a big hit in the sixth game of the season when she suffered a fractured clavicle in the first minutes against South Dakota.
For the first time in her career, Boffeli was forced to the bench with a lasting injury, one that kept her out six weeks, a stretch where the Panthers also slipped to 3-9 on the season.
"She's a great leader, a vocal leader and I often refer to her as the soul of our team," Warren said of Boffeli. "When you lose someone like that ... it leaves a huge void."
Despite the injury, Boffeli ensured she still made an impact for the Panthers off the court.
"What I loved about her is she was right there in the huddles, when we were meeting as coaches, she was in the huddles, she took my seat, she was talking to them about what she saw and that's the kind of leadership you need," Warren said. "She never disengaged."
Boffeli credited the coaches at UNI for helping keeping her positive through the injury. She also feels she gained a new perspective when she was on the sidelines helping coach her teammates.
"I think that's made me a better person and a player on the court," Boffeli said. "I work hard, you just can't take anything for granted because you don't know what's going to happen so that's my mindset every day."
Hungry to return, Boffeli scored 16 points in her first game back, but there was a little rust that had to be knocked off in her return.
"My message to her coming back was 'Grace, you have to give yourself some grace,'" Warren said. "She missed some shots early that she normally would make so it honestly took her about three to four weeks to get back into that rhythm."
But once she got her feet back under her, she's been hard for other teams to stop.
Since her return, Boffeli is averaging 15.8 points and 9.7 rebounds per game and has posted 10 double-doubles, including in each of her last four games.
It's helped the Panthers go 12-5 down the stretch and claw their way back above .500 for the first time since November. It also earned Boffeli first-team all-conference honors for the second straight season.
"There's not many people who can miss six weeks and come back and do what she's done in league play," Warren said. "I kept telling her ... (she's) still one of the best posts in the league, there's nothing else to prove and I think (the honor) validated that."
Considering how the season went, the recognition felt a little sweeter this time around.
"It's been hard coming back from an injury," Boffeli said. "But since we're here, I'm really proud of myself and my team that we're the four seed, we get a bye and we're excited for this week."
Despite the ups and downs of the year, there is one thing Boffeli will never forget from this season — playing in front of a sellout crowd at the McLeod Center when the Panthers hosted Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes in November.
Boffeli scored 11 points in a 94-53 loss, and though she was disappointed with the outcome, Boffeli admitted the energy and the excitement surrounding women's basketball that day transcended the final score.
"That day, I will probably never forget, the environment was just insane," Boffeli said. "It was packed, it was loud and it was just a really fun day."
No matter how this week goes for the Panthers, Boffeli will get one more season on the court, already deciding to use her COVID year and return to UNI.
The Panthers could once again be a factor in the conference, as regular starters Maya McDermott, Kayba Laube and Emerson Green — out for the rest of the season with a leg injury — are also expected to return.
But right now, Boffeli is focused on leading the Panthers to a title this week in her hometown.
"We still have a lot of work to do and a lot to prove," Boffeli said, "but we're just excited and we're going to take it day by day and get to work here this week."
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