Nov. 12, 2010
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By ADAM MEIER
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The 22nd-ranked University of Iowa women’s basketball team took its talents to Corpus Christi, Tex., on Friday looking to open the 2010-11 slate with a win — the Hawkeyes did so in impressive fashion.
Lead by junior Kelly Krei and senior Kachine Alexander, the Hawkeyes took down Southwestern Athletic Conference favorite and 2010 NCAA Tournament qualifier Southern University, 76-52, in the first game of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi’s Islander Tip-off tournament.
Krei recorded a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds while preseason All-Big Ten First teamer Alexander nearly matched Krei’s effort, scoring 18 points and grabbing nine rebounds.
Last year’s Big Ten Freshman of the Year Jamie Printy had a solid game, scoring 16 points while dishing out 5 assists. Junior Kamille Wahlin also played her role by scoring nine points and distributing six assists.
UI head coach Lisa Bluder said after Iowa’s 24-point win that handling the Jaguars’ quickness and athleticism was one of the keys to the game.
“They were a quicker team than us and I thought we negated that with the 2-3 zone,” Bluder said. “We made them take a lot of time off the clock and forced them to shoot from the outside which worked to our advantage.”
Neither team shot well from the outside with Southern shooting just 4 for 17 (24 percent) from beyond the arc while the Hawkeyes managed to hit 8 out of their 28 three-point attempts (29 percent).
Overall, the Hawkeyes shot 42 percent from the field while holding Southern to just 30 percent. Iowa also held an advantage in the free-throw department, making 18 of 22.
Despite turning the ball over 21 times , the Hawkeye defense also managed to force Southern into 21 turnovers.
“In the first half I don’t think we rebounded well but we took care of the ball well,” Bluder said. “In the second half we didn’t take care of the ball but we rebounded well.”
Defensively, 6-foot-5 sophomore Morgan Johnson made her presence felt on her birthday, blocking three shots and snagging five rebounds before fouling out.
With sophomores Trisha Nesbitt and Theairra Taylor sidelined with injuries, key contributions needed to come from the Hawkeye’s depleted bench.
Senior Kelsey Cermak led the reserves playing a valuable 26 minutes, adding six points and five rebounds for the Hawkeyes. Redshirt sophomore Hannah Draxten gave the team 17 minutes off the bench and sophomore Megan Considine grabbed four rebounds and hit a 3-pointer in her 13 minutes of play.
“It’s nice to be able to rest some people especially with back-to-back games,” Bluder said. “I think for the first time out we did a really nice job.”
The Hawkeyes play Arkansas State in the championship game Saturday at 5 p.m.