Nov. 10, 2010
- ‘Kash’ Alexander: All-America Candidate
- Women’s Basketball – W.I.N. Video
- Buy Women’s Basketball Tickets
- Iowa and the Big Ten Network
- Big Ten Network: Free Hawkeye Video
- 24 Hawkeyes to Watch
Southern Game Notes in PDF Format
IOWA CITY, Iowa – THE SETTING
The University of Iowa women’s basketball team opens the 2010-11 season on the road at the Islander Tip-Off, hosted by Texas A&M Corpus Christi. The Hawkeyes will play Southern at 5 p.m. Friday in the first game of the season. Iowa will then take on either Arkansas State or host school Texas A&M Corpus Christi Saturday at 5 or 7:30 p.m. Below is a schedule of the tournament.
Should Iowa face Texas A&M Corpus Christi Saturday, a live webcast for $5.95 will be available at www.goislanders.com.
Friday, Nov. 12
Iowa vs. Southern – 5 p.m.
Texas A&M Corpus Christi vs. Arkansas State – 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 13
Arkansas State vs. Iowa/Southern – 5 p.m.
Texas A&M Corpus Christi vs. Iowa/Southern – 7:30 p.m.
ON THE RADIO
Brent Balbinot and Shelley Till will call Friday’s game for the Hawkeye Radio Network. Hawkeye fans can listen to the contest on AM-800 KXIC in Iowa City, AM-600 WMT in Cedar Rapids, AM-1040 in Des Moines or on the Hawkeye All-Access page of hawkeyesports.com. Balbinot is in his seventh season as Iowa’s play-by-play voice, while Till is in her sixth providing analysis.
IOWA HISTORY
Iowa has played 1,036 games, since beginning basketball in 1974. Iowa’s overall record is 630-406 (.608). That includes a 318-158 (.668) mark in regular season Big Ten contests and a 297-87 (.773) mark in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
SCOUTING SOUTHERN
The Southern Jaguars return all five starters and 10 letterwinners from last year’s squad that went 23-9 en route to a SWAC regular season and tournament championship. The Jaguars were defeated in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by eventual national champion Connecticut.
Southern was picked to repeat as SWAC champions this year, receiving 19 of a possible 20 first place votes. Southern’s Freda Allen was named the SWAC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.
Southern defeated sister school Southern-New Orleans, 76-48, in an exhibition game Monday night. Hannah Kador scored a game-high 20 points and had eight rebounds. Jamie Floyd had eight points while Essence Hopkins, Julia Jackson and Adrian Sanders each had seven points.
SCOUTING TEXAS A&M CORPUS CHRISTI
The Texas A&M Corpus Christi Islanders are picked to finish second in the West Division of the Southland Conference after finishing tied for third a year ago. Last season, the Islanders won a school-record 24 games and advanced to the semifinals of the Women’s Basketball Invitational postseason tournament.
Jade Davis was a preseason first team all-Southland pick by the league coaches. She has led the team in scoring the past two seasons. She averaged 15 points per game last year.
SCOUTING ARKANSAS STATE
The Arkansas State Red Wolves were picked to finish third in the West Division of the Sun Belt Conference after finishing eighth place in the conference a year ago. The Red Wolves return four starters and nine letterwinners from 2009-10, including two of their top three scorers.
Senior Shay Scott was named preseason second-team all-Sun Belt Conference. She averaged 12.7 points and 7.5 rebounds last season.
Arkansas State played two exhibitions before heading to Texas. The Red Wolves defeated Lyon Nov. 1, 72-58. Junior Shania Hurst scored a game-high 28 points and sophomore Quinishia McDowell added 17 points.
In their second tuneup, the Red Wolves defeated Arkansas-Monticello, 72-64. Senior Shay Scott led the way with 23 points while freshman Jane Morrill added 12 points off the bench.
HAWKEYES IN SEASON OPENERS
Iowa is a perfect 10-0 in season openers under Head Coach Lisa Bluder. Friday will mark just the third time in Bluder’s 11 years that the Hawkeyes will open the season on the road. Iowa started the 2001-02 season with a 69-54 win over Gonzaga in the Great Alaska Shootout, and the 2006-07 campaign with a 79-70 victory over Missouri State in Kansas City at the WBCA Classic.
IOWA IN THE RANKINGS
The Hawkeyes are ranked in both the Associated Press and the ESPN/USA Today preseason Top 25. Iowa is No. 22 in the AP poll and No. 25 in the ESPN/USA Today poll.
This season marks the first time since the 2000-01 season that Iowa has appeared in the AP Top 25 and the first time since 2004-05 the Hawkeyes are in the ESPN/USA Today poll.
Four Iowa opponents are also ranked in the AP and ESPN/USA Today polls: Ohio State (7/7), North Carolina (15/18), Iowa State (20/17) and Michigan State (25/24).
In addition, Iowa was tabbed 19th in Lindy’s Sports preseason rankings.
IOWA ROLLS IN EXHIBITION
Iowa eclipsed the century mark Sunday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, knocking off Concordia-St. Paul, 101-59 in an exhibition contest.
Four Hawkeyes scored in double figures. Junior Kelly Krei led the way with 25 points on 9-12 shooting, including 6-8 from behind the arc. Morgan Johnson and Kachine Alexander each had double-doubles. Johnson scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds while Alexander added 11 points and 13 boards. Junior Kamille Wahlin had 17 points and a game-high eight assists.
HAWKEYES PICKED TO FINISH SECOND
The Iowa women’s basketball team was picked to finish second by both the league coaches and media. Ohio State was chosen as the favorite in both polls.
Senior Kachine Alexander was a preseason all-Big Ten selection by both the league media and coaches. She was a unanimous selection by the coaches.
ALEXANDER ON WATCH LISTS
Senior Kachine Alexander has been named to the watch lists for the Wade Trophy, the Wooden Award and the Naismith Trophy. The “Wade Watch” List is made up of the top 25 preseason women’s basketball players, the Wooden Award includes 30 student-athletes and the Naismith Trophy watch list is made up of 50 players.
The Wade Trophy, Wooden Award and Naismith Trophy are considered the three most prestigious awards in NCAA women’s college basketball.
Alexander is also one of 30 Division I women’s basketball players nationally to be selected as a candidate for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. To be eligible, the candidates must show excellence in four categories: community, classroom, character and competition.
KASH IN THE BANK
? As a 5-9 guard, junior Kachine Alexander ranked second in the Big Ten and 23rd nationally with 10.4 rebounds per game last season.
? Alexander claimed the Big Ten rebounding title, averaging 11.1 boards per game in league games.
? Alexander was the top rebounding guard in the country under 5-10, and was one of only two guards in the entire country to average a double-double (16 points, 10.4 rebounds per game). She was also one of only three Big Ten players to average a double-double, with the other two being post players.
? Alexander had 15 double-doubles this season and has 24 in her career, which ties Amy Herrig for fourth most in school history.
? Alexander scored double figures in 22 of 27 games played, including eight 20-plus point performances. She had 10 or more rebounds in 17 of those games, with an impressive 10 games with 12 or more boards.
? Alexander averaged more rebounds than nine of the 10 players selected to the Division I State Farm Coaches’ all-America Team. She averaged the same amount of rebounds (10.4) as Nebraska’s Kelsey Griffin.
? Alexander had more double-doubles than seven all-Americans, despite playing between 12 and 14 fewer games than most of the honorees.
EVERYBODY BACK
Iowa returns all but one player who logged significant minutes from last year’s team that finished in a tie for third place in the Big Ten, earned a berth in the Big Ten Tournament championship game and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament after knocking off Rutgers in the first round (Gabby Machado – transfer).
SUCCESS UNDER BLUDER
Last year marked the seventh time in 10 seasons under Head Coach Lisa Bluder that Iowa has been selected for the NCAA Tournament, including each of the last three seasons. The Hawkeyes have participated in postseason play in all but one season under Bluder (two WNIT appearances).
In addition, Iowa finished with a winning record for the ninth time in 10 seasons under Bluder. Iowa’s third place finish in the Big Ten is also the seventh time under Bluder the Hawkeyes recorded an upper-division finish in the conference.
Iowa also tallied its fifth 20-win season under Bluder, including each of the last three seasons.
AWARD WINNERS RETURNING
Several Hawkeyes earned numerous awards during the 2009-10 season.
? Head Coach Lisa Bluder was named Big Ten Coach of the Year for the third time in 10 seasons at Iowa.
? Kachine Alexander was named honorable mention All-America by the Associated Press and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA). Alexander was also selected All-Region by the WBCA. She also earned All-America honors by the National Strength and Conditioning Assocation (NSCA). Alexander was named first team all-Big Ten by the coaches, second team all-Big Ten by the media and was one of five players named to the Big Ten all-Defensive Team. She was also selected to the Big Ten Tournament all-tournament team, named the MVP of the KCRG-TV9 Hawkeye Challenge and was a two-time Big Ten Player of the Week.
? Jaime Printy was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year and was a unanimous pick for the Big Ten all-Freshmen team. Printy also earned second team all-conference honors from the media and third team all-league honors by the coaches. Printy was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week four times. She was named second team Freshman all-American by Full Court Press.
? Kamille Wahlin was a third team all-Big Ten selection by both the coaches and media. She was also named to the Big Ten Tournament, KCRG-TV9 Hawkeye Challenge and Nugget Classic all-tournament teams.
? Kelly Krei was named to the Big Ten Tournament all-tournament team.
? Morgan Johnson earned a Big Ten Freshman of the Week award.
LEADING THE LEAGUE
Several Hawkeyes led the Big Ten in different statistical categories (both overall and league games only) last season.
? Junior Kachine Alexander claimed the Big Ten rebounding crown, averaging 11.1 boards per contest in league games. She also finished first in defensive rebounds (8.12 per game), in Big Ten games only. Alexander led the entire conference in offensive rebounds for all games (3.11).
? Sophomore Kamille Wahlin led the conference in three-pointers made per game for overall games (2.55) and league games only (2.59).
? Freshman Morgan Johnson led the Big Ten in field goal percentage, in conference games (.508).
? As a team, the Hawkeyes led the conference in free throw percentage (.771) and three-pointers made per game (7.91). In Big Ten games only, Iowa led the league in three-pointers made per game (7.72).
INJURY UPDATE
Iowa sophomores Theairra Taylor and Trisha Nesbitt are both sidelined with injuries.
Taylor suffered her third ACL tear in the last 20 months during preseason practice and will miss the entire season.
Nesbitt partially ruptured the plantar fascia in her right foot and will be out indefinitely. A timetable for Nesbitt’s return has not been established.
TAKING ADVANTAGE OF FREE THROWS
Iowa, under Head Coach Lisa Bluder, is proving to be one of the best free throw shooting teams in the country.
The Hawkeyes have ranked in the top 10 in the nation three of the past four seasons. Iowa finished the 2005-06 season ranked 10th (.760), ranked fifth (.788) in 2006-07 and also ranked fifth (.792) last season.
The 2009-10 campaign was no different. Iowa ranked sixth in free throw percentage across the NCAA (.771).
WELCOME ABOARD
Iowa has two new faces on its roster this year in Jade Rogers and Kalli Hansen.
Rogers is from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and prepped at Cedar Rapids Kennedy High School. She was a four-time all-state selection, including first team honors as a sophomore, junior and senior. She was also a four-time first team all-metro, all-district and all-conference pick. Rogers was a two-time conference Player of the Year and was also the metro Player of the Year as a senior.
Hansen is from Olin, Iowa and spent the last two years at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids. She helped lead Kirkwood to back-to-back NJCAA national championships. Kirkwood compiled an impressive 75-2 record during her two seasons. She was a first team All-American and all-region selection while at Kirkwood.
TOUGH SCHEDULE IN 10-11
Iowa’s schedule features 15 opponents who participated in postseason play last year (nine NCAA teams, five WNIT teams and one WBI team). The Hawkeyes will take on six 2010 NCAA Tournament teams before conference play.
Seven of Iowa’s 12 non-conference games will be on the road, including two neutral site games at the Islander Tip-Off Tournament (Corpus Christi, TX) and the Caribbean Challenge (Cancun, Mexico). The Hawkeyes will also face South Dakota State, North Carolina and Drake on the road.
PLENTY OF NATIONAL EXPOSURE
The Hawkeyes will have 23 of their 30 games this season appear on either CBS, ESPN2, Big Ten Network, Mediacom or BigTenNetwork.com.
The Hawkeyes will appear seven times in HD on the Big Ten Network, starting Jan. 2 at home vs. Michigan. Other BTN telecasts include Jan. 13 at Michigan State (5:30 p.m.), Jan. 16 at home versus Indiana (1 p.m.), Feb. 3 at Purdue (5:30 p.m.), Feb. 10 at home versus Minnesota (8 p.m.), Feb. 24 at home versus Illinois (7:30 p.m.) and Feb. 27 at Indiana (1 p.m.). In addition, the entire 2011 Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament will be televised live on the Big Ten Network.
Iowa will face Ohio State twice on national television. The first matchup is scheduled for Jan. 8 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena and will be aired live on CBS (3 p.m.). The rematch is slated for Jan. 24 in Columbus and will be televised on ESPN2 (6 p.m.).
Mediacom will televise four Iowa home games, including Nov. 7 vs. Concordia-St. Paul (1 p.m.), Nov. 16 vs. Bradley ( 5 p.m.), Dec. 9 vs. Iowa State (7 p.m.) and Dec. 22 vs. Northern Iowa (7 p.m.).
The Hawkeyes are scheduled to have 10 games webcast on BigTenNetwork.com. A complete list of those games can be found by clicking on the schedule link above. Fans can log on to BigTenNetwork.com and click on the “Live Streams” tab to get more information on costs and package options.
Iowa will have 15 of its 16-game Big Ten Conference slate air on CBS, ESPN2, Big Ten Network or BigTenNetwork.com.