Hawkeyes Up To This Challenge

Stats

Dec. 5, 2010

Box Score | Photo Gallery

• ‘Kash’ Alexander: All-America Candidate
• Vote ‘Kash’ For Premier Player Award
• 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

PARDON OUR PROGRESS! As friends of the University of Iowa and fans of the Hawkeyes know, the UI Athletics Department is well into a multi-million dollar revitalization of Carver-Hawkeye Arena. This important and exciting project has reduced for this season the number of ticket windows that are operational on game nights. Fans attending the home events of the 2010-11 UI men’s basketball, women’s basketball and wrestling teams are invited to avoid game night delays by purchasing their event tickets online or in advance of game day. If your schedule doesn’t allow for an advance purchase, we recommend you consider arriving at the Arena a little earlier than originally planned. Go Hawks!

By ADAM MEIER

IOWA CITY, Iowa — After suffering its first loss of the season to North Carolina in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge last Thursday, the University of Iowa women’s basketball team bounced back to defeat Kansas State, 68-62, on Sunday in the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge.

The Hawkeyes were led in scoring by sophomore Jamie Printy, who dropped 20 points while adding five assists to help the team improve to 8-1 on the season.

Iowa was in control early, leading 21-13 with just under 5 minutes remaining in the first half, but the lead didn’t last long as the Wildcats stormed back to take a 29-25 advantage at the break.

“I thought our first half was very lackluster,” UI head coach Lisa Bluder said. “We didn’t play with a lot of emotion. We weren’t communicating very well. We weren’t playing with that love of the game.”

Trends reversed in the second half as the Hawkeyes took off, outscoring Kansas State 21-12 in the first 10 minutes of the half to grab a 46-41 lead.

The Hawkeyes’ traditionally lethal long-distance shooting was nowhere to be found against the stingy Wildcat defense, as Iowa made 2 of 8 3-pointers in the first half while not attempting one the remainder of the game.

“We wanted to get to the rim, either through great penetration or by getting the ball into Morgan (Johnson),” Bluder added. “I thought we could beat them off the drive, and in fact we were supposed to be doing that to begin the game. But we did a lot better job in the second half.”

By getting into lane consistently, the Hawkeyes were able to overcome their non-existent perimeter shooting with 38 points in the paint which helped hand the Wildcats their first loss of the season, dropping them to 6-1.

Johnson benefitted the most from the penetration of the guards. She scored 13 points while also making her presence felt on the defensive end, blocking five shots and grabbing six rebounds.

“She’s tough to shoot over, very tough to shoot over.” Bluder said of Johnson. “She’s just worked so hard and we’re really happy to see her playing this way.”

A loud crowd of 7,641 Hawkeye faithful saw their team shoot a stellar 25-of-51 from the field.

Kachine Alexander and Kamillie Wahlin each contributed double-digit scoring outputs as well. Alexander put together a quiet 12-point performance while Wahlin added 10 points, hitting all six of her attempts from the charity stripe.

Leading by seven with 30 seconds left in the game, the Hawkeyes were forced to endure a quick four- point Wildcat barrage which cut their lead to just three points. But Alexander proceeded to make 3 of 4 free throws to seal the victory.

Iowa continued its conference-best free throw shooting by knocking down 16 of their 19 foul shots (84.2 percent).

The Hawkeyes face another Big 12 squad Thursday, Dec. 9, when the nationally ranked Iowa State Cyclones come to town. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Carver Hawkeye Arena.