Feb. 3, 2008
Final Stats | Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery
- 25 Years of Carver-Hawkeye Arena
- Purchase Tickets Online
- Photo Galleries
- Big Ten Network: Free Hawkeye Video
IOWA CITY – And the beat goes on for Lisa Bluder’s University of Iowa women’s basketball team.
The Hawkeyes celebrated the first 25 years of women’s basketball inside the UI’s award-winning Carver-Hawkeye Arena with a convincing 81-65 victory over the Indiana Hoosiers on Super Bowl Sunday afternoon.
The victory was Iowa’s sixth straight and 11th straight against the Hoosiers in Carver and, more importantly, meant the Hawkeyes would end the day in no worse than a tie for first place in the Big Ten Conference. The win also pushed Bluder’s Bunch to 15-7 overall and 8-3 in league action; Indiana dropped to 13-9, 6-4.
Iowa used five points from Wendy Ausdemore and a lay-in from Krista VandeVenter to grab a 43-33 lead less than two minutes into the game’ second half. And, after letting the lead get trimmed to seven three times, Megan Skouby capped an 8-0 Iowa run with a pair of free throws to give the home team a 67-53 margin with just more than six minutes to play.
The Hoosiers got the score below 10 at 72-63 when Jamie Braun nailed a jumper with 2:32 remaining, but the Hawkeyes countered with two free throws from Jenee Graham and three from Kristi Smith to put the game out of reach.
Smith paced a group of four Hawkeyes who scored in double-digits with a team-high 17 points. Ausdemore and Skouby added 16 and JoAnn Hamlin 12 for the UI. Braun paced the Hoosiers with a game-high 26 points.
Iowa dominated the glass, ripping 44 rebounds down compared to only 26 for the Hoosiers. Skouby had a game-high 10 while Johanna Solverson added seven. The boards resulted in 17 second-chance points and 18 points from the paint.
|
“Our team played hard today and we had fun. Indiana is a good rebounding team and we took their strength away from them and rebounded well on our side. It’s a good feeling to throw a team like Indiana out of their zone like we did today.”
Lisa Bluder
|
Iowa also shot at a 50 percent clip from behind the arc, nailing 10 of 20 tries. Smith and Ausdemore each dropped in four three-pointers.
Smith also was credited with five steals and three assists.
“Our team played hard today and we had fun. Indiana is a good rebounding team and we took their strength away from them and rebounded well on our side. It’s a good feeling to throw a team like Indiana out of their zone like we did today,” said Bluder, who is now just two wins from 500 in her career.
“This win is important. It keeps our win streak and home court advantage going. It also puts us clearly ahead of Indiana in the standings.”
The Hawkeyes took a 36-33 lead into halftime thanks to an 11-point effort by Smith and 7-of-13 shooting from behind the arc by the UI. The margin could have been greater, but Iowa committed nine turnovers that resulted in 12 Hoosier points. Iowa did control the boards, however, claiming an 18-13 margin.
Iowa concludes a stretch of playing four of five games at home Thursday when it hosts Michigan State. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. in Carver. The Hawkeyes then hit the road for a contest at Penn State next Sunday. Tip-off is slated for 11:05 a.m. (CST). That game will be televised live by the Big Ten Network.
Click HERE for the Big Ten Network home page.