Alexander's Layup Makes Iowa a Winner

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Feb. 10, 2011

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By RICHIE ZAWISTOWSKI

IOWA CITY, Iowa — They call her “Kash” for short, and University of Iowa forward Kachine Alexander was money when it mattered most Thursday.

A Minnesota native, Alexander broke the backs of the Gophers and the hearts of her home state with a driving layup with five seconds remaining giving Iowa a critical 64-62 women’s basketball win on Mediacom Court in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Hawkeye point guard Kamille Wahlin sealed the victory by swiping the ball from Minnesota’s Kiara Buford with two seconds left.

Iowa snapped a two-game losing streak and improved to 18-7 overall, 6-6 in the Big Ten Conference; Minnesota (11-13, 3-8) saw its three-game winning streak come to a halt.

Alexander led Iowa with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Printy scored nine of the final 12 points for the Hawkeyes, including a 3-point bomb that gave Iowa a 62-59 lead with 45 seconds remaining.

“I knew (Minnesota’s) Kionna (Kellogg) was going to sag off of me and not let me get into the paint,” said Alexander. “So I tried to get her off-balance and I think I did that pretty well and went up against a bigger post player and finished.”

Alexander blew past Kellogg, and hit the game-winner — a physical and contested layup that ended up giving Alexander a bump and bruise below her right eye.

“It’s always an emotional win with Minnesota,” said UI head coach Lisa Bluder. “Kash’s last bucket, she has a little shiner to show for it, a little badge of honor. I think it’s quite fitting that Kash makes the last basket against Minnesota.”

Alexander now has 11 double-doubles on the season, and is three career double-doubles away from breaking the Iowa career record. Kelly Krei posted 12 points for Iowa to go along with Printy’s 13 points for the three Hawkeyes to score in double figures.

Morgan Johnson was ill with the flu and did not start, playing in only 11 minutes.

The first half was a back-and-forth battle between the two teams that saw no team lead by more than four points. Both teams shot just 34-percent in the first half, and Minnesota went into halftime with a 28-24 lead.

Alexander brought Iowa to 28-27 to start the second half, as her 3-pointer with 50 seconds gone by in the second half fell through. The next time down on the offensive end Iowa took the lead for just the second time of the game with a Krei layup in transition giving Iowa a 29-28 edge with 18:38 remaining.

More transition offense for Iowa, as Alexander laid the ball in on the break after a pass from Printy giving Iowa a 34-31 advantage with 15:25 left.

However, Iowa hit a drought and went more than four minutes without a basket, including back-to-back missed layups before Johnson broke the slump with a turnaround hook shot on the baseline to bring Iowa within one, 41-40. She then followed up the basket with a block on other end.

A Wahlin 3-pointer from the corner made it 50-48 with five minutes left followed by two free throws by Alexander tied the game at 50 with 4:50 remaining.

Minnesota rattled off five straight points in under a minute to climb back in front by five, 55-50.

A 6-0 run by Iowa including a Kelsey Cermak layup and a Printy layup gave Iowa a 56-55 lead with 2:47 left. Following the Printy layup, Iowa forced Minnesota into a shot-clock violation — it’s second of the game.

Minnesota stripped Printy though and converted on the other end giving Minnesota the one point advantage 57-56 with 1:49 left.

Printy answered immediately. She penetrated into the lane and drew a foul on Minnesota the next time down the floor. Printy converted both of the free throws for a 58-57 Iowa lead with 1:41 left.

One minute later with the game tied at 59, Printy came through again. After catching a pass on the right wing, she fired up a deep 3-pointer that found nothing but net putting Iowa up 62-59 with 43 seconds remaining.

Minnesota answered with a trey of its own though, and Iowa got the ball back and called timeout with 23 seconds left.

However, Alexander was too much for the Gophers as she hit the contested layup, giving Iowa the hard-fought 64-62 win.

Iowa has just two days off before returning to action Sunday at Northwestern. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.