Nov. 28, 2008
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ST. THOMAS, U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS — Wendy Ausdemore provided the heroics and reached an individual scoring milestone, but the University of Iowa couldn’t rally past South Florida during an 82-79 women’s basketball overtime loss in the second round of the Paradise Jam on Friday at University of the Virgin Islands.
Ausdemore, a senior from Neola, Iowa, became the third active Hawkeye to join the 1,000-point club, along with teammates Kristi Smith and Megan Skouby.
With five seconds left in regulation, Ausdemore sank a three-point field goal that knotted the score at 74-74 and sent the game to overtime. Iowa had a chance to force double overtime, but a three-point attempt by Kelly Krei misfired at the buzzer.
The Bulls improved to 5-1 overall and Iowa, which played the final 8:36 of regulation without Smith, who fouled out, fell to 4-2. South Florida scored 26 points off 27 Hawkeye turnovers.
“This was a disappointing loss,” UI head coach Lisa Bluder said. “Turnovers were our Achilles Heel tonight. We did a good job rebounding, but we didn’t possess the basketball.”
Ausdemore turned in her second consecutive double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds (six offensive). She made 5 of 13 three-point attempts and handed out four assists. Skouby scored 20 points on 9 of 14 shooting from the field and Smith added 12 points (4 of 8 three-pointers) with three assists in 28 minutes.
The Hawkeyes made 13 of 27 second-half field goals and finished by making 30 of 66 shots from the floor (45.5 percent). South Florida held huge advantages in free throw attempts (32 to 13) and turnovers (14 to 27). The Bulls also had 15 steals to Iowa’s four and received 15 more points from their bench (31 to 16). The Hawkeyes scored 17 second-chance points — eight more than South Florida.
“It was unfortunate having Kristi foul out,” Bluder said. “We felt like we needed to have her in there at that point of the game. I thought Kamille (Wahlin) grew up tonight. She played extended minutes and played extremely well down the stretch.”
Wahlin logged 26 minutes, scoring eight points with three assists and two steals. She made 4 of 6 field goals. Krei also scored eight points and JoAnn Hamlin pulled down 14 rebounds.
The Bulls led 44-40 at halftime, thanks to a monster effort by Shantia Grace with 21 points, two assists and two steals in 17 minutes. She finished with a game-high 27 points. Ausdemore paced Iowa with 11 points, four rebounds and two assists. With three seconds left in the first half Krei drained a three-pointer that pulled the Hawkeyes within four points, but Ausdemore hit the floor in pain and holding her knee. Ausdemore left the court with assistance, but returned for the final 20 minutes. Skouby added 10 first-half points.
The up-tempo action lead to 21 turnovers over the first 20 minutes — 11 by Iowa and 10 by South Florida.
Iowa led by eight points (14-6) after a Skouby jumper with 15:19 left in the first half. Skouby has scored in double figures in five of the first six Hawkeye games.
Iowa plays No. 3 California tomorrow (Saturday, Nov. 29) at 7:35 p.m. (Iowa time). An audio broadcast of the game is available within the All-Access player inside hawkeyesports.com. Fans of the Hawkeyes can watch a live web stream by purchasing a day pass for $9.95 through www.paradisejam.com.
“California is a very good basketball team and we will have to be at our best tomorrow night,” Bluder said.