Iowa Hosts Northern Iowa Wednesday

Dec. 21, 2010

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!

Northern Iowa Game Notes in PDF Format

IOWA CITY, Iowa – THE SETTING
The University of Iowa women’s basketball team will wrap up non-conference play Wednesday, hosting the Northern Iowa Panthers at 7 p.m. inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Single-game tickets are $9 for adults. Youth (18 and under) are admitted free for weekday games.

PROMOTIONS
Lisa Bluder bobbleheads will be given out to the first 1,500 fans. Every fan will also receive scratch-to-win tickets, with possible prizes ranging from season and single game tickets to discounts at the Iowa Hawk Shop.

Wednesday’s game will also be “Winter Wonderland” at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Fans are encouraged to wear white. Santa will be at the game to visit children and Herky will be giving out Christmas presents to random fans during the game.

ON YOUR TELEVISION
Wednesday’s game will be televised live on Mediacom Connections. Rob Brooks and Mac McCausland will call the action.

AUDIO COVERAGE
Brent Balbinot and Shelley Till will call Wednesday’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 WHO 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.

ON YOUR COMPUTER
Hawkeye fans can also follow the game via live stats (Gametracker). The “GT” link can be accessed under the “Calendar” tab on the front page of hawkeyesports.com or on the women’s basketball schedule page.

Wednesday’s game will also be streamed live at BigTenNetwork.com, for a $7.95 monthly subscription fee.

IOWA HISTORY
Iowa has played 1,046 games, since beginning basketball in 1974. Iowa’s overall record is 640-407 (.612). That includes a 318-158 (.668) mark in regular season Big Ten contests and a 302-87 (.776) mark in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

WIN NO. 300 AT HOME
The UI women’s basketball program picked up victory No. 300 inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena with a 90-79 win over Central Michigan Nov. 21. The Hawkeyes have compiled a 302-87 (.776) record inside their home venue since it opened in 1983.

SCOUTING NORTHERN IOWA
The Northern Iowa Panthers are 7-3 overall.

In their last game, the Panthers defeated North Dakota, 78-54 in Cedar Falls Dec. 18. Lizzie Boeck led Northern Iowa with 30 points (11-19 FGs, 7-8 FTs) and nine rebounds. Katelin Oney had 21 points (6-8 3Pt. FGs). Erin Brocka added eight rebounds and six assists. Northern Iowa held North Dakota to a .353 field goal percentage for the game and turned 19 turnovers into 21 points.

Boeck is Northern Iowa’s leading scorer and rebounder at 15.3 points and 7.2 boards per contest. Jacqui Kalin is next at 14.8 points while Oney is scoring 11.9 points per game.

As a team, Northern Iowa is shooting .399 (234-586) from the field, including .346 (79-228) from three-point range.

NORTHERN IOWA VS. IOWA NOTES
? Iowa leads the all-time series, 13-2. Northern Iowa won the first meeting in the series during the 1974-75 season. The Hawkeyes then won 10-straight over Northern Iowa before the Panthers picked up their second win during the 2006-07 season. Iowa has won the last three meetings and holds a 6-1 record against Northern Iowa in games played in Iowa City.

? Iowa Head Coach Lisa Bluder graduated with a degree in marketing from Northern Iowa in 1983. She was a three-year starter for the Panther women’s basketball team.

? Sunday’s game features three coaches who are members of the Iowa Girls High School Hall of Fame. Northern Iowa Head Coach Tanya Warren (Des Moines Lincoln), along with Iowa Associate Head Coach Jan Jensen (Elk Horn Kimballton) and Iowa Assistant Coach Jenni Fitzgerald (North Scott), were all inducted after stellar high school careers.

? Nine of Northern Iowa’s 13 players are from the state of Iowa. Six of the 12 players on Iowa’s roster are from the state.

LAST MEETING
Iowa used stellar second half shooting to rally past Northern Iowa, 81-70 at the McLeod Center. The Hawkeyes shot .556 (15-27) in the second half, including .571 (4-7) from three-point range and .938 (15-16) from the free throw line.

Trailing 43-40 with 14:49 left in the game, the Hawkeyes used an 11-0 run to take a 51-44 lead at the 12:22 mark. Northern Iowa fought back to within three at 53-50 with 8:33 left, but precise free throw shooting down the stretch gave Iowa the win.

The Hawkeyes trailed by as many as seven, but still managed to win. The game saw six ties and two lead changes.

WAHLIN’S CAREER DAY AGAINST NORTHERN IOWA
Kamille Wahlin poured in a career-high 33 points against Northern Iowa last season.

Wahlin led Iowa’s second-half comeback with 21 points on 6-10 shooting, including 4-5 from three-point distance and connected on all five free throw attempts in the final 20 minutes.

IOWA IN THE RANKINGS
The Hawkeyes are ranked No. 14 in the AP and No. 13 in the ESPN/USA Today top 25.

Four Iowa opponents are also ranked in the AP and ESPN/USA Today polls: North Carolina (10/10), Michigan State (12/16), Ohio State (13/12) and Iowa State (21/21).

Kansas State and Northwestern are receiving votes.

HAWKEYES HOLD ON FOR WIN AT DRAKE
Iowa fought off a tough first half and made clutch shots down the stretch to hold on for a 75-71 win at Drake Monday night.

Iowa committed 12 turnovers in the first half and trailed by six at halftime. The Hawkeyes were much more efficient in the second half, turning the six-point deficit into a 10 point lead. Drake battled back and tied the score at 71 with 1:10 left, but Kamille Wahlin drained a jumper with 50 seconds remaining to give Iowa a two-point lead at 73-71. The Hawkeyes stopped Drake on its next two offensive possessions to seal the win.

The Hawkeyes were led by Kachine Alexander with 26 points and eight rebounds. Wahlin and Printy each added 13 points.

BLUDER REACHES MILESTONE
With a 75-71 win at Drake Dec. 20, Iowa Head Coach Lisa Bluder became only the second coach in school history to reach the 200-win milestone.

Bluder currently has 200 wins in her 11 years at Iowa. C. Vivian Stringer is the only other Hawkeye head coach to reach the 200-win plateau at Iowa, finishing her time in Iowa City with 269 wins.

Ohio State Head Coach Jim Foster is the only other active Big Ten coach to have reached 200 wins at his/her current school.

KASH CLOSE TO A GRAND
Kachine Alexander is close to becoming the 27th player in school history to score 1,000 career points.

Alexander needs just 34 more points to hit the 1,000 mark. She currently has 966 points.

PRINTY’S STREAK SNAPPED
Jaime Printy came within one made free throw of tying a school record for consecutive free throws made.

After missing her first free throw attempt of the season in Iowa’s season-opener, Printy made 32-straight free throws. She finished 1-2 from the charity stripe at Drake and missed tying Lindsey Meder’s record of 33 consecutive free throws made by one shot.

JOHNSON FILLING UP THE STAT SHEET
Morgan Johnson scored double figures over a tough four game-stretch, including double-doubles in two of those four contests.

Johnson tallied a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds at No. 14 North Carolina Dec. 2. She followed with 13 points and six rebounds against Kansas State and recorded another double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds against No. 15 Iowa State. Johnson had a career-high 26 points at South Dakota State, including the first 11 points of the contest.

Over the four-game stretch, Johnson averaged 17 points, nine rebounds, shot .707 (29-41) from the field and blocked 13 shots.

HAWKEYES DOMINATING THE PAINT
Iowa is racking up the points in the lane through 12 games.

The Hawkeyes have scored 20 or more paint points in all but one game (Bradley, 16) this season and have netted 30 or more points seven times. Iowa has outscored its opponents, 358-309 in the paint so far and the Hawkeyes are averaging 29.8 points in the paint per game.

Iowa has recorded more paint points than its opponents in nine games this season.

AT THE CHARITY STRIPE
Iowa currently leads the Big Ten and ranks 11th in the NCAA with a .780 free throw percentage. Jaime Printy leads the league and ranks third in the NCAA at .941 (32-34).

BALANCED SCORING ATTACK
Iowa is one of only two teams (Penn State) to have five players ranked among the top 30 scorers in the league.

Northwestern has four ranked while Ohio State and Wisconsin have three. The other six Big Ten schools have either one or two players among the top 30 scorers.

The Hawkeyes have had at least three players reach double figures in scoring in all 11 games this year. Five players scored 10 or more points against Bradley. Four players hit double digits against Northeastern, Central Michigan and Kansas State.

HAWKEYES HITTING THE BOARDS
Iowa’s rebounding numbers through its first 12 games are impressive. The Hawkeyes lead the Big Ten in total rebounding (43.4 per game) and rank second in offensive rebounding (14.0), defensive rebounding (29.4) and rebounding margin (+7.0).

Kachine Alexander and Morgan Johnson are tied for the league lead in offensive rebounds per game (3.4). Alexander’s 18 rebounds against Central Michigan, Nov. 21, are the most for any Big Ten player this season.

LEADING THE LEAGUE
Three Hawkeyes are leading the Big Ten in different statistical categories. ? Kachine Alexander and Morgan Johnson are tied for the league lead in offensive rebounds (3.4 per game).

? Jaime Printy has the best free throw percentage (.941) in the Big Ten.

MOVING UP CAREER CHARTS
Four Hawkeyes are currently working their way up the career records lists at Iowa.

? Kachine Alexander ranks second in career double-doubles (27), 10th in career rebounding (723), 13th in career assists (265) and 27th in career scoring (966). She needs three more rebounds to move past Franthea Price for ninth place on the rebounding list and 15 assists to move past Laurie Aaron and Necole Tunsil for 12th on the assists list. She needs nine more double-doubles to take over first place (Lisa Long, 35).

? Morgan Johnson ranks fifth in career blocks (109) and needs five more to move past Jennie Lillis into fourth place.

? Kamille Wahlin ranks sixth in career three-pointers made (131) and needs eight more to move past Kristi Faulkner into fifth place.

? Jaime Printy ranks 11th in career three-pointers made (105) and needs four more to move past Jenna Armstrong and into the top 10 of the list.