Hawkeyes Ready For Rematch With Golden Gophers

Feb. 16, 2010

Complete Release in PDF Format

IOWA CITY – THE SETTING
The Iowa Hawkeyes (14-11, 7-7) host the Minnesota Golden Gophers (12-13, 5-9) Thursday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Single-game tickets are $9 for adults. Youth (18 and under) and UI students are admitted free.

PROMOTIONS
Thursday will feature half-price concessions during the entire game.

ON YOUR TELEVISION
Thursday’s game will be televised live to a national cable audience on the Big Ten Network (HD). Mark Neely and Mary Murphy will call the action.

ON YOUR RADIO
Brent Balbinot and Shelley Till will call Thursday’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.

ON YOUR COMPUTER
Hawkeye fans can follow the game via live stats (Gametracker). The Gametracker link can be accessed under the “Calendar” tab on the front page of hawkeyesports.com or on the women’s basketball schedule page.

IOWA HISTORY
Iowa has played 1,027 games, since beginning basketball in 1974. Iowa’s overall record is 624-403 (.608). That includes a 316-157 (.668) mark in regular season Big Ten contests and a 295-87 (.772) mark in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Tonight will be the 64th meeting between Iowa and Minnesota, with Iowa holding a 41-22 advantage. The Hawkeyes have won four of the previous six matchups against the Golden Gophers. Iowa won 20-straight games over Minnesota betwen 1983-94. The Hawkeyes are 22-8 in games played in Iowa City.

SCOUTING MINNESOTA
The Minnesota Golden Gophers are 12-13 overall and 5-9 in Big Ten play. In its last game, Minnesota gave conference-leader Ohio State a tough game, but eventually fell, 64-59. Minnesota led the game for 30 minutes, but an 8-0 Ohio State run in the second half proved to be the difference.

Kiara Buford is leading the team with 13.1 points per game. Ashley Ellis-Milan is next with 9.7 points per contest, while Jackie Voigt is averaging 9.0 points per game. Ellis-Milan is also Minnesota’s leading rebounder at 5.2 boards per contest.

As a team, Minnesota is shooting .378 from the field, including .331 from three-point distance and .760 from the charity stripe.

IOWA VS. MINNESOTA NOTES
? Iowa freshman Theairra Taylor will see two high school teammates tonight. Minnesota’s Kiara Buford and Ashley Ellis-Milan are from the same hometown (St. Paul, MN) and attended the same high school (St. Paul Central) as Taylor.

? 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).

? Iowa and Minnesota share two common non-conference opponents. Both schools played Iowa State and Santa Clara. The Hawkeyes opened the season with a 67-51 win over Santa Clara, and were defeated 85-66 by Iowa State. Minnesota knocked off Santa Clara, 91-51, and lost to Iowa State, 77-60.

LAST MEETING
Iowa dropped its second overtime contest in three games, losing at Minnesota, 72-69 (Jan 3).

In a back and forth game, Iowa couldn’t pull away in regulation, as the Golden Gophers forced overtime. With 2:41 remaining, Minnesota’s Brittany mcCoy hit a jumper to tie the game at 62, which would also be the last points of the second half. After the teams traded missed baskets, Iowa grabbed a defensive rebound with 11 seconds left. Kamille Wahlin had a jumper in the lane with two seconds remaining that rimmed out, forcing overtime.

Minnesota used a 7-2 run in overtime to put the game out of reach for the Hawkeyes.

Iowa was led by Jaime Printy, who scored 26 points, along with two rebounds, three assists and two steals. Kachine Alexander recorded a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

HAWKEYES SWEEP SEASON SERIES VS. ILLINOIS
Iowa defeated Illinois, 77-67, Sunday to sweep the season series against the Fighting Illini.

The Hawkeyes led by as many as 30 in the second half, but Illinois trimmed the deficit to just four points with 3:30 remaining. Clutch free throw shooting by Kachine Alexander down the stretch helped Iowa hold onto to its lead and seal the win.

Iowa sprinted out to a 25-6 lead in the first half, and took a 47-20 lead into halftime. The 27-point lead at intermission was Iowa’s largest of the season.

Three Hawkeyes scored double figures, including a game-high 24 points by Alexander. Jaime Printy added 17 points, four rebounds, two assists and a career-high three steals, while Kamille Wahlin had 17 points.

ALEXANDER NAMED TEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior Kachine Alexander was named Ten Player of the Week for the second time this season Feb. 15.

The Minneapolis, MN, native averaged 22.5 points and 11 rebounds in wins at Indiana and at home against Illinois. She shot .579 from the field and .875 from the free throw line. She scored 21 points and grabbed 16 rebounds at Indiana, and followed with 24 points, six rebounds and six asissts against Illinois.

Alexander first received the award Nov. 16, after earning MVP honors at the KCRG-TV9 Hawkeye Challenge. 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 EARNS FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK HONORS
Jaime Printy was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week for the fourth time this season, Feb. 15.

Printy averaged 22.5 points along with 4.5 rebounds in Iowa’s wins at Indiana and over Illinois. She scored a career-high 28 points at Indiana, and netted 17 points vs. Illinois.

Printy led the Hawkeyes to back-to-back conference wins, as Iowa defeated Illinois in Champaign, and knocked off Northwestern in Iowa City. The Marion, IA, native averaged 22.5 points on the week, and shot a blistering .522 (12-23) from the field, including .400 (4-10) from three-point range and .850 (17-20) from the charity stripe. Printy led Iowa with 22 points at Illinois, including 8-8 from the free throw line, which set career highs in both makes and attempts. She also added four rebounds, four assists and two steals. Against Northwestern, Printy led the Hawkeyes with 23 points on 6-10 shooting, and played 38 minutes in the win.

Printy first earned the award Nov. 30, after a stellar performance against William & Mary, and an impressive two-game stretch at the Nugget Classic in Reno, NV. Her second accolade came Jan. 4, after the Hawkeyes defeated Wisconsin and dropped a tough overtime game at Minnesota. Her third honor came Jan. 25 after wins over Illinois and Northwestern.

HAWKEYES RACKING UP THE HONORS
Freshman Jaime Printy has now been named Big Ten Freshman of the Week a conference-leading four times this season. As a team, the Hawkeyes have collected seven weekly honors this season, second only to Ohio State’s eight awards.

KASHIN’ IN FROM THE CHARITY STRIPE
Kachine Alexander set two school records and a Big Ten record Sunday against Illinois.

Alexander’s 17 made free throws and 20 free throw attempts were both school records. In addition, the two marks are Carver-Hawkeye records for an Iowa player.

Alexander’s 17 made free throws are also the most by a single player in a Big Ten game. The 20 attempts are the third-most by a Big Ten player in conference history.

Alexander has scored 107 of her total 286 points from the free throw line, and is averaging 7.6 trips to the charity stripe per game.

WAHLIN TIES SOPHOMORE TREY MARK
Kamille Wahlin tied Wendy Ausdemore’s record for three-pointers made by a sophomore Sunday vs. Illinois. Wahlin finished with four made three-pointers, which gives her 62 on the year. Wahlin is currently tied with Ausdemore, and one more trey will give her the sophomore record.

PRINTY SETS FRESHMEN THREE-POINTERS RECORD
Jaime Printy became Iowa’s all-time leader for three-pointers made by a freshman Feb. 4 at Ohio State. Printy’s four treys against the Buckeyes gave her 50 for the season, which is one better than the previous record of 49, held by Lindsey Meder (1998-99).

CLIMBING THE RECORDS LADDER
Sophomore Kamille Wahlin and freshmen Jaime Printy and Morgan Johnson are putting their names in the Hawkeye records book this season.

? Printy already broke the freshmen record for three-pointers made in a single season at Iowa with 57.

? Printy’s 388 points rank third among Hawkeye freshmen. She only needs 28 more points to become the all-time freshmen scoring leader at Iowa. She is currently in third place with 388 points, and trails Megan Skouby (414) and Lisa Becker (416). Printy needs to average seven points over the next four games to break the record.

? Printy’s 77 assists ranks fifth in Iowa history for a freshman. She trails Necole Tunsil for fourth place (78) and Kristi Smith for third place (82).

? Wahlin’s 62 made three-pointers are tied for first in Iowa history for a sophomore. She is tied with Wendy Ausdemore for first place.

? Johnson’s 56 blocks are the second-most for an Iowa freshmen. Tangela Smith (73) is in first place. Smith’s 73 blocks also rank first all-time in Iowa history.

? Johnson’s 175 rebounds are third among freshman. She trails Cindy Haugejorde (237) for third place.

ON A STREAK
Since Jan. 21, Iowa has won six of its last seven games, with its only loss coming at conference-leader Ohio State. Iowa has moved from last place in the Big Ten to alone in fifth place. The Hawkeyes are just one game out of third place, and 1.5 games out of second place in the standings. Iowa has also moved up 23 spots in the NCAA RPI (74 to 51) since Jan. 21.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
Kachine Alexander collected her 11th double-double of the season at Indiana Feb. 11. Alexander scored 21 points and grabbed 16 rebounds. She now has 20 career double-doubles.

Alexander registered her double-double just 15:24 in the game. She grabbed her 10th rebound of the contest at the 4:43 mark in the first half. Alexander entered halftime with 14 of Iowa’s 32 points and 12 of its 28 rebounds.

Alexander had double-doubles in each of Iowa’s first three games, before missing the next seven games with a stress fracture. She now has double-doubles in four-straight games.

Despite missing seven games, Alexander still ranks third in the Big Ten in double-doubles, behind Ohio State’s Jantel Lavendar (15) and Illinois’ Jenna Smith (14), who are both post players.

HAWKEYES LEADING IN STAT CATEGORIES
Several of Iowa’s statistics leading the Big Ten, and stack up well across the country.

? As a team, the Hawkeyes lead the Big Ten in three-pointers made per game (7.64) and rank second in three-point percentage (.367). In Big Ten games only, Iowa leads the conference in three-pointers made per game (7.36) and is second in three-point percentage (.347) Nationally, Iowa ranks 15th in three-pointers made per game and 27th in three-point percentage.

? Iowa’s team free throw percentage of .756 is third in the Big Ten, and 17th nationally.

? Individually, freshman Jaime Printy leads the Big Ten in free throw percentage (.887) and ranks second in three-pointers made per game (2.44). Printy ranks 11th nationally in free throw percentage.

? Printy is second in the Big Ten in three-pointers made per game (2.44), and first in league games only (2.57).

? Kamille Wahlin leads the Big Ten in three-pointers made per game (2.58).

? Kachine Alexander is third in the Big Ten in double-doubles, and ranks 21st nationally. She is also third in the conference in rebounding (10.2) and defensive rebounds (7.31), in league games only.

? In Big Ten games only, freshman Morgan Johnson ranks first with a .484 field goal percentage.

LEADING THE ROOKIES
Jaime Printy and Morgan Johnson are making their cases to be included on the Big Ten all-Freshmen team this season.

Printy leads all Big Ten freshmen in scoring (15.5) and free throw percentage (.887), while Johnson is first in rebounding (7.0) and blocked shots (2.24).

ONE, TWO FROM THREE
Kamille Wahlin and Jaime Printy are proving to be a potent one-two punch from behind the three-point arc.

The duo ranks first and second in the Big Ten in three pointers made per game. Wahlin leads the league with 2.58, while Printy is second with 2.44.

ON THE HORIZON
The Hawkeyes travel to Evanston, IL, Sunday to face Northwestern. Tip-off is slated for 1 p.m. at Welsh-Ryan Arena.