Nov. 18, 2010
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Editor’s Note: The following first appeared in Hawk Talk Daily, the UI Athletics Department’s daily e-newsletter delivery free of charge each morning to thousands of fans of the Hawkeyes worldwide. To learn more about HTD, click HERE.
IOWA CITY, Iowa – – Hannah Draxten and Jordan Stoermer…..Iowa’s basketball’s “Super Subs”?
Well, for at least one night – Tuesday night in Carver-Hawkeye Arena – each was exactly that for their respective UI teams.
Draxten, a red-shirt sophomore who was sidelined a year ago for all but four games because of a back injury, had her number called early in Iowa’s 91-53 victory over Bradley and responded with eight first half points – six coming on 50 percent shooting from behind the arc – and 12 total points in 13 minutes of action.
The 6-footer from Fergus Falls, Minn., also was credited with one rebound, block and steal. That, my friends, is being both productive and efficient.
“It’s amazing having (Hannah) on the bench. It’s quality depth. It’s a person that is able to score easily, which you saw tonight,” Lisa Bluder said of Draxten, who made 23 three-pointers during a freshman season in which she saw action in 30 of Iowa’s 32 games.
“It’s just good for us to have that quality depth. It makes everybody breathe a little easier,” Iowa’s head coach added. “It makes our players play hard because they know they have somebody good coming off the bench and it gives me a lot of confidence, too.”
Stoermer stole a page from Draxten’s playbook when Fran McCaffery called his number with Iowa leading by only four points 12 minutes into its 68-40 victory over Louisiana-Monroe.
Stoermer, an Iowa City native who prepped at West High School before spending a pair of seasons up I-380 at Kirkwood Junior College, responded with back-to-back three-pointers, the second giving Iowa a 10-point margin.
The walk-on shooting guard would end the night with seven points, three rebounds and a steal in 19 minutes of action….a performance that would earn a “spectacular” from his head coach.
“We executed our out-of-bounds plays and got a lot of productivity from a lot of people, not the least of which was Jordan, who was spectacular,” McCaffery said after earning his first win as head coach of the Hawkeyes.
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“I thought he did great. All the media wants to talk to him and he is on TV, so I was teasing him. He did great and I’m proud of him. Coach asked before the game if he was ready to play and he came in and did his job.”
Cully Payne on teammate Jordan Stoermer’s performance Tuesday night in the Arena
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“He’s very bright and always wanted to be a Hawk. I knew who he was. I knew he was interested,” offered McCaffery when asked how Stoermer landed on the Iowa roster.
“At some point he was contacted by some other institutions. I think he had some low-level (Division I) offers. At that point in time I spoke to him about making sure he knew that I wanted him on our team.”
“I thought he did great. All the media wants to talk to him and he is on TV, so I was teasing him. He did great and I’m proud of him. Coach asked before the game if he was ready to play and he came in and did his job,” teammate Cully Payne said of Stoermer’s first significant opportunity to showcase his talents on the big stage that is Carver Hawkeye Arena.
Both coaches talked in their post-game sessions with the media about the balance in the scorebook. “We had one guy in doubles (points) and have a 28-point win,” Fran smiled.
Both also loved the big number in the assist column. “I’m really happy with 22 assists and 29 field goals. We like numbers like that,” Bluder said.
Both also, perhaps, found their “Super Sub.”