Iowa opens season with 61-43 win against Dartmouth

Nov. 11, 2007

Box Score | Quotes | Notes

IOWA CITY —Three University of Iowa players scored in double figures and all 13 Hawkeyes played at least two minutes during a season-opening 61-43 victory against Dartmouth on Sunday in front of 2,736 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

With just over 10 minutes to play, it was obvious that the pesky Big Green was not going to go away on their own. Instead, Iowa senior Johanna Solverson did her best to point Dartmouth back home to New Hampshire with a loss. Solverson used an assist by Abby Emmert and sank a three-point field goal to give Iowa a 46-35 lead. On the next trip down the court (and following one of 18 Big Green turnovers), Solverson hit another three-pointer, this time with an assist from Kristi Smith. Solverson then played a major role in forcing another Dartmouth turnover before feeding Krista VandeVenter with an assist at the 8:54 mark giving the Hawkeyes their largest lead to that point at 51-35.

All 13 first-half field goals by Iowa were assisted and for the game the Hawkeyes made 25 field goals with 22 assists.

“I was extremely happy with that,” Iowa Head Coach Lisa Bluder said. “Twenty-two assists on 25 baskets is an amazing statistic. Obviously we found the open person and moved the ball extremely well.”

Juniors Wendy Ausdemore and Smith led the Hawkeyes in scoring with 12 points and VandeVenter added 11. Ausdemore made 4 of 7 three-point field goals and Smith handed out seven assists.

Dartmouth took a 15-9 lead with 13:02 left in the first half before Iowa went on a 14-0 run over the next 6:10. The closest the Big Green got in the second half was six points at 39-33.

“I thought this was a very good opening game of the season for us,” Bluder said. “We really tried to concentrate on our defense and I was happy we held them to 43 points and shoot only 28 percent from the field.”

Bluder was disappointed with the final rebounding figures that showed Dartmouth with an edge, 40-37, including 20 offensive boards. Bluder noted that the Big Green scored just nine points off those 20 rebounds. Meanwhile, the Hawkeyes posted 28 points off turnovers and held huge advantages with 28 points in the paint (to Dartmouth’s 10) and bench points (22 to 9).

Kachine Alexander was the leading rebounder for Iowa with six in 13 minutes. Jenee Graham and VandeVenter both had five. Graham, Smith and Ausdemore all had two steals.

Fans can expect to see the Hawkeyes go to its bench often and consistently during the season.

“I think we are legitimately 10 strong, if not more,” Bluder said. “We will use those people.”

Iowa hosts in-state rival Drake on Tuesday with a 7:05 p.m., tip-off.

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