Women's Basketball Season Underway

Oct. 5, 2010

Women’s Basketball Season Ticket Video | Women’s Basketball Practice Photo Gallery

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Women’s basketball season is officially underway in Iowa City.

The Hawkeye women’s basketball team kicked off the season Monday with its first official practice, signaling the start of the 2010-11 campaign. Iowa returns every player who logged minutes last season as the team collected a 20-14 record, a berth in the Big Ten Tournament championship game and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament after defeating Rutgers in the opening round.

“We are really excited to have the season get started,” Head Coach Lisa Bluder said. “It’s always a great feeling to have your entire team together on the court for the first time when practice starts. The team has worked really hard in the offseason and we are looking forward to seeing what they can do this year.”

One returning player who is receiving plenty of national attention is All-America candidate Kachine Alexander. The senior from Minneapolis, Minn. was a two-time honorable mention All-American last season and has already been named to the “Wade Watch” List which identifies the top 25 preseason players in the country.

“Preseason honors are nice but they don’t matter,” Alexander said. “What matters is how your team finishes at the end of the season. That’s why we are working hard during these early practices. We want to be in the Sweet 16, Elite 8 and so on in the NCAA Tournament. Last year’s run was a lot of fun, but now we have higher expectations. That’s what preseason is all about.”

Jaime Printy, last year’s Big Ten Freshman of the Year, now has a year of experience under her belt and was ready for the season to start a long time ago.

“Once school starts everyone is kind of ready to get things `officially’ started,” Printy said. We have a great team. We love being around each other and being on the court together. This is a close-knit team and we can’t wait to get things going this year.”

Iowa’s first game of the 2010-11 season is scheduled for Nov. 7 against Concordia-St. Paul in an exhibition at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes open the regular season Nov. 12-13 at the Islander Tip-Off Tournament in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Season tickets are on sale and can be ordered by calling 1-800-IA-HAWKS or visiting hawkeyesports.com. Fans can check out a promotional video for the upcoming season by clicking the link at the top of the page.