Nov. 8, 2007
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by Derek Sawvell
IOWA CITY — An early 8-0 run, giving the University of Iowa women’s basketball team a 13-5 lead, is what the Hawkeyes used to propel them to a 79-56 victory over Missouri Western State Thursday in front of 2,204 in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
The Hawkeyes jumped to their first double-digit lead of the night during the first half when Kristi Smith stole the ball while applying full-court pressure on Missouri Western State’s guards and quickly advanced the ball to Stacy Schlapkohl who scored a layup to put the Hawks ahead 32-21. Smith later hit back-to-back three pointers, helping give Iowa a 42-28 lead at the end of the first half.
The Griffons were led in the first half with a 12-point effort by senior Jill Johnson. Missouri Western State went right back to Johnson on a set play in the paint to start the second half but her shot was blocked by Iowa’s Megan Skouby, helping to keep Iowa’s momentum. The Hawkeyes held Johnson to just two points in the second half.
Skouby led Iowa with a balanced attack, scoring 14 points, grabbing eight rebounds and blocking two shots. Her 12th point of the game, a put-back from an offensive rebound, gave Iowa its first 20-point lead of the night 54-34. Iowa then sustained that lead by getting quality minutes and contributions from the rest of the squad to maintain its lead for the rest of the second half, leading to a 79-56 victory. Junior Wendy Ausdemore also chipped in 10 points to the winning effort.
UI Head Coach Lisa Bluder was impressed with the effort from her entire team.
“We’ll be 10-deep and that’s the first time we’ve had that luxury,” Bluder said.
In a losing effort, Missouri Western State was led by senior Chemia Woods who scored 18 points, including two three pointers. Johnson finished the game with 14 points.
Iowa dominated the game with its full-court pressure, which led to 20 Missouri Western State turnovers resulting in 25 points-off-turnovers for the Hawkeyes. Iowa also won the rebound battle 47-29 including 22 offensive rebounds leading to 17 second-chance points.
“We forced 20 turnovers tonight and that’s pretty darn good,” Bluder said. “This is as good of preparation as we could ask for with our season-opener coming Sunday.”
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