Nov. 17, 2009
- Purchase Iowa Women’s Basketball Tickets
- Take the Hawkeyes With You: Iowa Podcasts
- Iowa and the Big Ten Network
- Big Ten Network: Free Hawkeye Video
- 24 Hawkeyes to Watch
Complete Release in PDF Format
IOWA CITY – THE SETTING
The Iowa Hawkeyes (2-0) return to action Wednesday when they host the No. 19 ranked Kansas Jayhawks (1-0). Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
PROMOTIONS
Wednesday’s game against Kansas will be the annual “Buck Night” at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. All tickets will be only $1 for Wednesday’s game.
TICKET INFORMATION
Season ticket prices are $70 for adults, $56 for UI faculty and senior-citizens and $15 for youth (18 and under). UI students are admitted free with student I.D.
ON YOUR COMPUTER
Wednesday’s game against Kansas will be webcast live on BigTenNetwork.com for a $2.99 fee.
Hawkeye fans can also follow the game via live stats (Gametracker). The “GT” link can be accessed under the “Calendar” tab on the front page of hawkeyesports.com or on the women’s basketball schedule page.
ON YOUR RADIO
Brent Balbinot and Shelley Till will call Wednesday’s game for the Hawkeye Radio Network. The game can be heard on AM-800 KXIC, AM-1040 WHO, AM-1460 KXNO, FM-95.7 KKSY and also on the Hawkeye All-Access page of hawkeyesports.com. Balbinot is in his sixth season as Iowa’s play-by-play voice, while Till is in her fifth providing analysis.
IOWA HISTORY
Iowa has played 1,004 games, since beginning basketball in 1974. Overall, Iowa’s record is 612-392 (.610). That includes a 309-151 (.672) mark in regular season Big Ten contests and a 287-83 (.776) mark in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
ALL-TIME SERIES
Wednesday will be the sixth meeting between the two schools, with Kansas leading the all-time series, 3-2. Kansas won the last meeting, 76-55, last year in Lawrence.
Kansas won the only meeting in Iowa City, 62-58, in the second round of the 1998 NCAA Tournament.
SCOUTING KANSAS
The Kansas Jayhawks are 1-0 after opening the season with a 106-80 win over Oral Roberts at Allen Fieldhouse. Danielle McCray scored 27 points (4-7 3Pt. FGs), grabbed 11 rebounds and added seven assists, while Aishah Sutherland added 24 points and eight rebounds. Krysten Boogaard poured in 19 points, while Sade Morris (12) and Angel Goodrich (10) also scored in double figures.
Kansas was picked to finish second in the Big 12, and McCray was chosen as the Preseason Player of the Year after hearning honorable mention all-American honors last year. The Jayhawks return three starters from last year’s squad that lost in the championship game of the WNIT last season. Kansas was ranked No. 20 in the Preseason AP Poll, and moved up one spot to 19th this week.
The Jayhawks are coached by Bonnie Henrickson, who is in her 13th season as a head coach, her sixth with Kansas.
LAST SEASON AGAINST THE JAYHAWKS
Iowa suffered its first loss of the season against Kansas last year, 76-55 in Lawrence. The Jayhawks converted 23 Hawkeye turnovers into 24 points and drained eight triples to Iowa’s one en route to the win.
Megan Skouby was Iowa’s lone player in double figures, pouring in a game-high 33 points (13-14 FTs). She also collected seven rebounds and blocked a game-high three shots.
Kansas was led by LaChelda Jacobs (18 points), Sade Morris (17 points) and Danielle McCray (15 points, nine rebounds).
IOWA VS. KANSAS NOTES
?Kansas Head Coach Bonnie Henrickson served as an assistant at Iowa from 1995-96. She helped Iowa win two Big Ten titles and a earn a Sweet 16 berth.
?Henrickson was head coach at Virginia Tech when Iowa played the Hokies in Blacksburg, VA, in the 2004 NCAA Tournament.
?Kansas Assistant Coach Karen Lange played at Iowa from 1993-96, when Henrickson was an assistant.
?Kansas Assistant Coach Tamika Raymond was an assistant coach at Ohio State from 2003-08.
?Two of Iowa’s first three opponents advanced to the WNIT Final Four last season. Kansas and Illinois State played in the semifinal round, with Kansas coming away with a 75-72 win. Another Iowa opponent this year, Boston College, also made the WNIT Final Four.
INJURY UPDATE
Senior JoAnn Hamlin is out indefinitely with a blood clot in her right leg.
Sophomore Hannah Draxten will be out 1-2 weeks with a herniated disc in her back.
Freshman Theairra Taylor will miss 1-2 weeks with a fractured eye socket.
Freshman Gabby Machado is listed as day-to-day with an ankle sprain.
IOWA TOPS ILLINOIS STATE FOR TITLE
Iowa used a 12-2 run late in the second half to defeat Illinois State, 75-67 Sunday for the KCRG-TV9 Hawkeye Challenge championship.
The Hawkeyes got to the free throw line 25 times in the second half (17 makes), and drained nine three-pointers in the win.
Four players scored in double figures, with Kachine Alexander leading all players with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Freshman Jaime Printy added 16 points, with both Kelly Krei and Kamille Wahlin adding 15.
ALEXANDER NAMED CO-BIG TEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior Kachine Alexander was named co-Big Ten Player of the Week Monday after earning MVP honors at the KCRG-TV9 Hawkeye Challenge.
Alexander recorded double-doubles in each of Iowa’s first two games. She tied a Hawkeye Challenge tournament record by grabbing 18 rebounds (nine offensive, nine defensive), along with netting 19 points in Iowa’s season-opening win over Santa Clara. Both her 19 points and 18 rebounds were game highs.
Alexander followed on Sunday with a 21 point, 12 rebound (nine offensive, three defensive) performance in the championship game against Illinois State. Alexander was clutch down the stretch at the free-throw line, making 13-16 attempts from the charity stripe.
Alexander, who stands at 5-9, now has 11 career double-doubles.
WAHLIN LANDS ON ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Sophomore Kamille Wahlin was named to the KCRG-TV9 Hawkeye Challenge all-tournament team after two solid performances to open the season.
Against Santa Clara, Wahlin netted 13 points and added three rebounds.
Wahlin was clutch down the stretch in the championship against Illinois State, scoring seven points during Iowa’s crucial 12-2 run in the final three minutes of the second half to give the Hawkeyes the victory. Wahlin drained a three-pointer with 3:46 left to give Iowa a one-point lead at 64-63. She then hit a jumper with 37 second left, extending Iowa’s lead to five points at 70-65. Wahlin added two free throws on the next trip down the court to seal the win.
FILLING UP THE STAT SHEET
Freshman Jaime Printy was everywhere for the Hawkeyes last weekend.
Printy, who started both games, played 64 of a possible 80 minutes over the weekend. She grabbed five rebounds and dished out six assists against Santa Clara, and followed with a 16 point, seven rebound and four assist effort against Illinois State.
Printy leads the team in assists (10), and is the team’s second-leading rebounder (12).
KREI LIGHTS UP THE REDBIRDS
Sophomore Kelly Krei put on a show behind the three-point arc in Sunday’s game against Illinois State.
After missing her first attempt from distance, the Iowa City native drained four in a row from behind the line in the first half. She finished with 15 points on 4-8 shooting. Krei was 4-6 from three-point, and 3-6 from the free throw line.
Krei also played all 40 minutes in Iowa’s win Sunday.
JOHNSON STEPPING UP
Freshman Morgan Johnson, stepping into a starting role for the injured JoAnn Hamlin, is more than doing her part for the Hawkeyes in the paint.
In her first career start, Johnson scored 15 points and grabbed five rebounds. She played stellar defense against Illinois State, and added five points and five rebounds.
PRESEASON RANKINGS
Iowa was picked to finish fifth in the Big Ten by both the league coaches and media. Ohio State was tabbed as the favorite to win the Big Ten, with Michigan State coming in second.
LOOKING AT THE ROSTER
The Hawkeyes return two full-time starters, one part-time starter and a total of seven letterwinners from last year’s squad.
Iowa returns 43.7% of its scoring and 56.4% of its rebounding from a year ago. The Hawkeyes also return 57% of their assists, 52.5% of their steals and 50.3% of their minutes played from the 2008-09 season.
WELCOME TO IOWA CITY
The Hawkeyes welcome five freshmen to the squad this season, one at each position.
Trisha Nesbitt (Ames, IA), will most likely play point guard for Iowa this season. She was a three-time all-conference and two-time first team all-district and all-state selection.
Jaime Printy (Marion, IA) could play both guard positions. She became the youngest player (15) ever to verbally commit to the Iowa Women’s Basketball team. She also played high school basketball at Coach Bluder’s alma mater (Linn-Mar). She was a three-time consensus first team all-state, all-district, all-metro and all-conference pick.
Theairra Taylor (St. Paul, MN) is a 5-11 guard. She was a finalist for 2009 Miss Minnesota Basketball award and was the 2009 St. Paul City Conference Player of the Year. Taylor also earned Associated Press and Pioneer Press first team all-state honors.
Gabby Machado (Pontiac, MI) ranked in the Top 10 in the state of Michigan’s 2009 recruiting class. She was a Detroit News Class “A” all-state honorable mention selection.
Morgan Johnson (Platte County, MO) was the Miss Show Me Basketball Award winner, given to the top prep senior in the state of Missouri. She was also named the 2009 Direnna Award winner, given to top prep in the Kansas City Area, and the Kansas City Star Scholar Athlete of the Year.
HOME GROWN HAWKEYES
Four Hawkeyes prepped in the state of Iowa. Those players are junior Kelsey Cermak (Norwalk), sophomore Kelly Krei (Iowa City) and freshmen Trisha Nesbitt (Ames) and Jaime Printy (Marion).
LAND OF 10,000 HAWKEYES
The 2009-10 edition of the Iowa Women’s Basketball team has four players from the state of Minnesota. They include junior Kachine Alexander (Minneapolis), sophomores Kamille Wahlin (Crookston) and Hannah Draxten (Fergus Falls) and freshman Theairra Taylor (St. Paul).
EXPANDED MEDIA COVERAGE
Iowa fans will have a chance to see 21 of the 29 regular season games, either on television or webstream.
The Hawkeyes will have 13 games televised by either the Big Ten Network, KCRG TV-9, Mediacom or ESPN2. In addition, 12 games will be streamed live on BigTenNetwork.com.
All Big Ten Tournament and NCAA Tournament games will be televised, as well.
HAWK TALK WITH Lisa Bluder
“Hawk Talk With Lisa Bluder” is the weekly radio call-in show of Iowa’s head women’s basketball coach. Hosted by Brent Balbinot, the radio voice of the Hawkeyes, “Hawk Talk With Lisa Bluder” is 60 minutes of discussion about Iowa women’s basketball. All shows begin at 6 p.m. and originate from Bob’s Your Uncle restaurant on North Dodge Street (Highway 1) in Iowa City, and are open to the public. Everyone who attends receives a free game ticket and discounts on “Show Night Specials” on the Bob’s Your Uncle menu.
Dates are listed below.
November 23 and 30, December 7, 14, 21 and 30, January 4, 11, 18 and 25, February 1, 8, 15 and 22 and March 1.
THE Lisa Bluder SHOW
“The Lisa Bluder Show,” featuring Iowa Head Coach Lisa Bluder and KCRG-TV9’s John Campbell, will air four times during the regular season on KCRG-TV9. Dates and times are listed below.
Thursday, December 31 – 6:30 p.m.
Sunday, January 16 – 5 p.m.
Sunday, January 20 – 5 p.m.
BIG TEN TOURNAMENT TICKETS ON SALE
All-session tickets for the 2010 Big Ten Men’s Women’s Basketball Tournament are on sale. Tickets can be purchased at all 11 Big Ten university ticket offices, Conseco Fieldhouse box office, Ticketmaster outlets, www.ticketmaster.com or by calling Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis is the site of the women’s tournament from March 4-7.
All-session tickets are available for $45 through January 18, which marks a 30-percent discount off the regular price of $65.
UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes travel to Cedar Falls, IA, to take on Northern Iowa Sunday at 3 p.m. Iowa will have just one after to prepare for William & Mary, who come to Carver-Hawkeye Arena Tuesday, Nov. 24 at 7 p.m.
Iowa will then travel to Reno, NV, for the Nugget Classic. The Hawkeyes will take on West Virginia Nov. 27 at 6 p.m., and either Columbia or Nevada Nov. 28 at 7 or 9 p.m. All times listed are central.