Dec. 24, 2009
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THE SETTING
The Iowa Hawkeyes (7-5) resume Big Ten play Monday, when they travel to University Park, PA, to take on Penn State (8-3). Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. (CT).
ON YOUR COMPUTER
Hawkeye fans can 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.
Fans can also watch a live webcast of the game on bigtennetwork.com for a $2.99 fee.
ON YOUR RADIO
Brent Balbinot and Shelley Till will call Monday’s game for the Hawkeye Radio Network. The game can be heard on AM-800 KXIC, AM-600 WMT, AM-1040 WHO, 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 year providing analysis.
IOWA HISTORY
Iowa has played 1,014 games, since beginning basketball in 1974. Iowa’s overall record is 617-397 (.608). That includes a 309-151 (.672) mark in regular season Big Ten contests and a 290-86 (.771) mark in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
ALL-TIME SERIES
Penn State leads the all-time series, 19-16. The Hawkeyes have won five-straight in the series, including each of the two previous meetings at Penn State. Iowa is 5-11 in games played at Penn State.
SCOUTING PENN STATE
The Penn State Nittany Lions are 8-3 overall, and 0-1 in Big Ten Conference play. Penn State’s conference loss came at Minnesota (56-48) Dec. 6.
In its last game, Penn State knocked off Oakland, 69-64. Senior Tyra Grant led the Nittany Lions with 21 points, five rebounds, five assists two blocks and two steals. Julia Trogele also scored double figures, netting 13 points and grabbing eight rebounds. Grant scored 13 of her 21 points during a 26-3 stretch in the second half to lift Penn State to the win.
Grant leads the Nittany Lions, averaging 18.2 points per game. Alex Bentley is the team’s next-best scorer, at 9.7 points per contest. Trogele leads the way on the glass, averaging 6.7 rebounds per game. As a team, Penn State is shooting .406 from the field and .321 from distance.
LAST MEETING
Iowa posted the largest comeback in school history when it overcame a 20-point second half deficit to beat Penn State, 63-57 last season.
Penn State closed the first half on an 18-3 run to take a commanding 41-23 lead heading into the half. The Lady Lions made the first bucket of the second half to stretch their lead to 43-23, but the Hawkeyes mounted a furious comeback outscoring Penn State 40-14 the rest of the way to escape with the victory.
Kristi Smith scored 21 points, including 5-10 from distance. Kachine Alexander collected nine points and nine rebounds, all in the second half. Wendy Ausdemore added 17 points.
Penn State’s Tyra Grant led all scorers with 26 points, 20 of which came in the first half.
HAWKEYES WRAP UP NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE WITH WIN
Iowa used another strong second half performance to defeat South Dakota State, 82-69. The Hawkeyes finished the non-conference schedule with a 7-4 record.
Iowa out-scored the Jackrabbits, 45-31 in the second half, and out-rebounded South Dakota State, 29-13 in the final 20 minutes.
Four Hawkeyes reached double figures, led by freshman Jaime Printy, who netted 18 points. Sophomore Kamille Wahlin added 17 points and four rebounds, while sophomore Kelly Krei had 12 points and eight rebounds. Freshman Morgan Johnson scored 11 points and grabbed nine boards in just 23 minutes of action.
Iowa forced 23 Jackrabbit turnovers, and turned them into 29 points. The Hawkeye bench also contributed 22 points, with Kachine Alexander (9), Trisha Nesbitt (7) and Gabby Machado (6) giving Iowa a lift. Alexander also added seven rebounds, five assists and three steals, while Machado grabbed six rebounds and had two assists. Nesbitt was a perfect 4-4 from the charity stripe, and also chipped in three assists.
HITTING THE GLASS
Iowa out-rebounded South Dakota State by 12 (46-34), with 21 of those rebounds being on the offensive glass. The Hawkeyes converted the 21 offensive boards into 29 second chance points, compared to just eight Jackrabbit offensive rebounds and 11 second chance points.
PRINTY PUTS ON A SHOW AGAINST THE JACKS
Freshman Jaime Printy came up big for Iowa in the clutch against South Dakota State Tuesday.
With the Hawkeyes ahead by one point (67-66) at the 3:34 mark in the second half, Printy ignited a 15-3 run to close the game, scoring the first seven points of the surge, and all nine of her second half points, during the crucial stretch.
Printy drained a long-distance three to put Iowa up four (70-66) at the three-minute mark. On the next two possessions, Printy sliced through the lane with the shot clock winding down, nailing layups to give Iowa a 74-66 advantage. She then scored the final two points of the game on a layup with two seconds remaining for the final count.
KREI ON THE BOARDS
Over the past two games, sophomore Kelly Krei has been of Iowa’s top rebounders.
Against Drake, Krei led the Hawkeyes with a career-high nine rebounds. She was just one rebound shy of leading the team against South Dakota State, grabbing eight boards.
Prior to the Drake game Dec. 20, Krei had tallied six or more rebounds just three times during the season, but has had recorded a total of 17 in the previous two games.
ALEXANDER RETURNS FROM INJURY
Junior Kachine Alexander returned to the court Dec. 20 against Drake, after missing the previous seven games with a stress fracture in her right leg.
Alexander netted eight points and grabbed six rebounds (two offensive, four defensive) in 15 minutes of action.
Alexander saw 25 minutes of play against South Dakota State Dec. 22, and scored nine points, along with seven rebounds, five assists and three steals.
Before her injury, Alexander was averaging 21 points and 15.7 rebounds.
JOHNSON STAYS HOT
Freshman Morgan Johnson has scored in double figures in each of Iowa’s last six contests.
Johnson notched her first career double-double in Iowa’s win over Columbia, scoring 18 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. She followed with a 16-point, six-rebound performance against Boston College. She added 12 points and seven boards against Michigan, and collected her second-career double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds at Iowa State.
In Iowa’ most recent games, Johnson was the teams’ second-leading scorer with 16 points, and also chipped in five rebounds and four blocks against Drake. She netted 11 points, along with nine rebounds in Iowa’s win over South Dakota State.
PRINTY PACES IOWA PAST BULLDOGS
Freshman Jaime Printy finished with an impressive stat line against Drake Dec. 20.
The Marion, IA, native scored a career-high 22 points on 8-12 shooting, including 4-5 from distance and a perfect 2-2 from the charity stripe. She also added four rebounds, four assists two steals and zero turnovers in 28 minutes of play.
OH, SO CLOSE
Three of Iowa’s five losses have been by five points or less, with two of those being by three points.
The Hawkeyes had a three-point attempt at the buzzer against West Virginia fall short, that would have sent the game to overtime.
Against Boston College, Iowa missed a three-pointer with seven seconds left that would have tied the game.
Against Michigan, Iowa missed the front-end of a one-and-one from the free throw line with both 27 and 11 seconds left, each time trailing by only one point.
DRAINING FROM DISTANCE AND THE LINE
The Hawkeyes lead the Big Ten in three-pointers made (93, 7.75) and rank second in free throw percentage (.763) and three-point percentage (.375).
Individually, sophomore Kamille Wahlin is leading the conference in three-pointers made (2.7 per game) and minutes played (36.2). She also ranks seventh in scoring (15.8).
Freshman Morgan Johnson is fifth in the Big Ten in blocked shots (2.2 per game).
WAHLIN STEPPING UP
Sophomore Kamille Wahlin filled Iowa’s scoring role when Kachine Alexander, the team’s leading scorer, went down with an injury.
Wahlin averaged 17.7 points (.455 FG%, .420 3PT%, .917 FT%) in the seven games without Alexander. She also played an average of 37.6 minutes in those seven games.
UNDERCLASSMEN CONTRIBUTING
Iowa’s freshmen and sophomore class are putting up big numbers for the Hawkeyes this season.
Hawkeye underclassmen are responsible for 89 percent of the teams’ points, 72 percent of rebounds, 87 percent of minutes played, 87 percent of assists, 84 percent of steals and 92 percent of blocks.
Iowa’s freshmen class alone are responsible for 59 percent of the team’s points, 49 percent of rebounds, 51 percent of minutes played, 55 percent of assists, 50 percent of steals and 77 percent of blocks.
LOGGING MAJOR MINUTES
Due to injuries, Iowa’s roster has been forced to play a large amount of minutes so far.
Three players have played over 30 minutes a game. Kamille Wahlin is playing 36.2 minutes per game, while freshman Jaime Printy and sophomore Kelly Krei are playing an average of 31.8 minutes per contest.
NEVER RIDING THE PINE
Sophomores Kelly Krei and Kamille Wahlin have both played all 40 minutes in back-to-back games this season.
Krei never left the court in consecutive games against Illinois State (Nov. 15) and Kansas (Nov. 18). Wahlin did the same against Boston College (Dec. 2) and Michigan (Dec. 6).
ALEXANDER NAMED CO-BIG TEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior Kachine Alexander was named co-Big Ten Player of the Week Nov. 16 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.
PRINTY NAMED BIG TEN FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Jaime Printy was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week, after her performances against William & Mary, West Virginia and Columbia.
Printy averaged 16.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists, as the Hawkeyes posted a 2-1 record last week. Printy recorded her first-ever 20-point game against William & Mary, adding nine rebounds with five assists. Against West Virginia in the first round of the Nugget Classic in Reno, Printy netted 16 points with four boards and five assists in the close, three-point loss. The Marion, IA, native scored Iowa’s first eight points against the Mountaineers, and made her first four shots, including a perfect 3-3 from distance.
Printy saved her best for last in Iowa’s win over Columbia. She scored 12 points with five rebounds and three assists in the thrilling win. Printy nailed a three-pointer with 52 seconds left to tie the game, giving Iowa a chance to win on its next possession.
WAHLIN ON ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAMS
Sophomore Kamille Wahlin was chosen to both the KCRG-TV9 Hawkeye Challenge and Nugget Classic all-tournament teams.
In the season-opening Hawkeye Challenge, Wahlin netted 13 points and added three rebounds.
She 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 (64-63). She then hit a jumper with 37 second left, extending Iowa’s lead to five points (70-65). Wahlin added two free throws on the next trip down the court to seal the win.
Wahlin scored 16 points, grabbed four rebounds and dished out five assists against West Virginia in the Nugget Classic. She followed with 18 points, including the game-winning three-pointer with 10 seconds left, to go along with three points and four assists against Columbia in the consolation game.
JOHNSON TIES SCHOOL RECORD
Freshman Morgan Johnson tied a school record with seven blocked shots against Northern Iowa (Nov 22). Johnson now holds the record with Jerica Watson (vs. Kent State, 12/8/01) and Tangela Smith (at Michigan State, 1/15/95). She currently ranks third in the Big Ten in blocks per game (2.75).
Johnson added 11 points and eight rebounds in the win.
HAWKEYES TIE FREE-THROW MARK
Iowa tied the school record for single-game free throw percentage, converting all 16 attempts against Columbia (1.000).
Freshman Morgan Johnson led the way, going 6-6. Sophomore Kamille Wahlin and freshman Theairra Taylor each went 4-4, while freshman Gabby Machado finished 2-2.
CAREER DAY FOR WAHLIN
Sophomore Kamille Wahlin poured in a career-high 33 points against Northern Iowa. She also notched career highs in field goals made (11) and attempted (19), three-pointers made (6) and attempted (10) and free throws made (5) and attempted (6). Her five five three-pointers were just one shy of the school record.
Wahlin led Iowa’s second-half comeback with 21 points on 6-10 shooting, including 4-5 from three point range and all five free throws in the final half.
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).
ON THE HORIZON
The Hawkeyes return to Big Ten play Dec. 28 when they travel to Penn State. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. (CT).