Jan. 4, 2009
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Newton’s first law of motion could also be adapted to the first law of momentum. If an object in motion tends to stay in motion, then a women’s basketball team that is winning tends to stay winning.
That was the case this afternoon as Indiana won its ninth consecutive game, 76-54, over the University of Iowa inside Assembly Hall. It was the first conference road setback of the season for the Hawkeyes, who slipped to 8-6 overall, 1-2 in the Big Ten Conference. Indiana improved to 10-2, 2-0.
The Hoosiers dominated every facet of the game and when Ashlee Mells grabbed a steal and converted a fastbreak layup with 9 seconds remaining before halftime, Indiana held a 42-17 advantage. Hawkeye seniors Wendy Ausdemore and Kristi Smith, who entered the game averaging 22.3 points per contest, were held to a combined three. Iowa had two players score in double figures, led by Megan Skouby with 15 and JoAnn Hamlin with 10. Skouby and Hamlin combined to shoot 10 of 16 from the field — Skouby was 6 of 10 and Hamilin was 4 of 6. Kachine Alexander added nine points with 10 rebounds.
As a team, Iowa shot 34.7-percent from the field, making 17 of 49 attempts. Indiana converted more than half of their field goal attempts, sinking 28 of 55 shots.
“Indiana played an excellent game,” UI head coach Lisa Bluder said. “I’m happy we came back and showed courage in the second half, but we just did not show up in the first half.”
The Hoosiers held advantages in points in the paint (34-4), points off turnovers (22-10) and second-chance points (18-6).
“We’re giving up too many easy shots,” Bluder said.
The final 20 minutes were a bright spot for the Hawkeyes, who out-scored Indiana 37-34 and held an edge of 17-15 in rebounding. Individually, freshman Kelly Krei turned in a nice game, scoring seven points on 2 of 3 shooting from the field (2 of 2 from three-point range) in 17 minutes.
Smith led Iowa with four assists, followed by Ausdemore with three. Skouby blocked three shots.
The Hawkeyes remain on the road to play Purdue for the second time in 11 days when they meet the Boilermakers on Thursday, Jan. 8, in West Lafayette, Ind. Purdue won the first meeting 69-60 on Dec. 28 in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Tip-off from inside Mackey Arena is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.
“Purdue is fresh in our minds,” Bluder said. “We need to focus on ourselves and get better in the areas where we need to improve.”