No. 19 Hawkeyes Rout No. 16 Iowa State, 62-40

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Dec. 9, 2010

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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 RICHIE ZAWISTOWSKI

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Morgan Johnson scored 16 points with 10 rebounds to lead No. 19 Iowa to a 62-40 win over No. 16 Iowa State on Thursday inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Kelly Krei made five 3-point field goals and added 15 points for the Hawkeyes, who improved to 9-1 overall.

The annual Iowa-Iowa State rivalry was renewed for a 41st time, however there was a twist, as both were facing each other being nationally ranked for the first time.

You couldn’t tell; Iowa dominated in front of 6,364 fans.

Jaime Printy dropped a career-high nine assists and Iowa held its opponent to its lowest point output since 2008.

“It feels really good,” said UI head coach Lisa Bluder. “Not only is it the whole Iowa-Iowa State thing, but then to add on to it that they were ranked ahead of us in the polls, and that we did it so convincingly. I think it’s a signature win for us in the fact that it was the 15th-ranked team in the country. I think that will make an impact on the selection committee.”

Iowa shot 41.7 percent (25 of 60) from the field and held a 40-27 rebounding advantage with 16 offensive rebounds. The Hawkeyes scored 34 points in the paint.

“I’m proud of the boxing out, the crashing that we did,” said Bluder. “I thought we took care of the boards. I’m just very, very thrilled with the team’s effort tonight on the defensive end and the rebounding.”

The defense was on full effect for both teams to start the game. It took nearly three minutes for Iowa to get on the board before Kamille Wahlin finally got Iowa started with a basket, tying the game at 2 with 17:13 remaining in the first half.

After Iowa State took a 6-5 lead, Iowa stepped on the gas pedal. The Hawkeyes went on a 17-2 run over the next eight minutes. Krei capped the spurt by knocking down a 3-pointer, making the score 22-8 with 7:07 remaining in the half. All five starting Hawkeyes scored or assisted during the 17-2 run.

Iowa State (6-2) proved why it is the No. 15 ranked team in the country, though. The Cyclones used a 13-2 run of its own over the next five minutes to make the score 24-21 with 2:26 remaining. Iowa was forced to call two timeouts during the Iowa State run.

The game went scoreless for almost the following two minutes. With just under 40 seconds remaining, Wahlin drove into the lane and lofted a floater off the glass, giving Iowa its first basket in four minutes. The basket was the last score of the half for either team, and at the break Iowa led 26-21.

The second half started slow like the first. Beside free throws, there was one basket scored — a Kachine Alexander layup — during the opening three minutes of the second half.

With the score 34-27 in Iowa’s advantage, the Hawkeyes used their defense to get the momentum back in their favor for good.

With 14:25 remaining in the game, Alexander stole the ball near midcourt and raced towards the basket. With Wahlin on her wing, she had a 2-on-1 fast break, and took the ball strong to the basket drawing the foul. Alexander converted one of the free throws making the score 35-27.

The following position, Alexander stole the ball again and got into the open court. This time she converted the layup and made the score 37-27 with 14 minutes remaining.

“When I see that there’s a shift in momentum I try to get something, whether it be a charge or a rebound or something to get our team fired up,” Alexander said. ” That’s why you see me get so emotional, because my team feeds off of that.”

The stout defense continued for Iowa as again on the very next possession. Iowa stole the ball again, this time the theft was by Printy. She then dropped a beautiful dime as she drove into the middle of the lane, and fed a bounce pass through traffic into the post. Johnson got the basket underneath, giving Iowa a 39-27 lead with 13:06 left in the game.

The Printy-to-Johnson trend continued, as three straight Iowa possessions resulted in Printy directly assisting to a Johnson basket. The final Printy-to-Johnson hookup made the score 43-27 with 11:45 remaining and forced Iowa State to call a timeout.

“I can’t say enough good things about Jaime Printy and her passing abilities,” said Johnson. “She just put the ball exactly where it needed to be. It was easy to make the layup after that. She had the hard job and I had the easy one.”

It would not get any better for Iowa State. After the game-changing run, Iowa used lockdown defense, and a ball control offense to milk the clock. Iowa allowed just four Iowa State baskets the entire second half.

“I thought we did a good job really focusing on the defensive end,” said Bluder. “When you think we held them to four field goals in the second half and three assists for the game, those are some really impressive numbers. Maybe one of the best defensive efforts I’ve seen.”

Iowa now has nine days off for its student-athletes to focus on final exams in the upcoming week. The Hawkeyes will resume play Dec. 18 as they travel to South Dakota State. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m.