Nov. 16, 2011
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IOWA CITY, Iowa — A 16-0 run over a six minute stretch was key to propelling the University of Iowa women’s basketball team to an 82-60 victory over Albany on Wednesday night on Mediacom Court inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
“I am glad to come out and get on the winning side of things,” said UI head coach Lisa Bluder. “Albany is a team that sometimes is very difficult to play against at the beginning of the year because of the way they play. They full court press the whole time.”
The Hawkeyes shot 49.1 percent (26-of-53) from the floor and 58.3 percent (7-of-12) from 3-point range. Iowa had 23 assists on its 26 field goals and committed 17 turnovers despite the 40 minutes of full-court pressure.
Junior Jaime Printy led a group of three Hawkeyes in double digits, finishing with 16 points and eight rebounds. Senior Kelly Krei tallied her third career double-double with 13 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, and junior Morgan Johnson had 12 points and six boards. A total of 10 Hawkeyes scored.
“I am happy with Kelly’s rebounding, but am happier with the way she defended Julie Forster because she is the key to that basketball team,” said Bluder. “She held her to two points in the second half.”
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Forester, Albany’s leading scorer entering the game at 21 points and 14 rebounds, finished with 13 points and 10 boards. Ebone Henry paced the Great Danes on the night, netting 17 points on 6-of-19 shooting.
With the score tied at 23 with five minutes to go in first half, the Hawkeyes found their groove. Printy found Kalli Hansen for a layup on a perfectly executed inbounds play to open the run. Krei connected on a 3-pointer at the 2:10 mark to extend the margin to double digits (34-23).
“The last couple of games we kind of got off to a slow start,” said Printy. “Tonight, I wouldn’t say it was a slow start, but we were neck-and neck with-them, and that run going into the half set the momentum for the second half.”
After taking a 37-23 lead into the break, Johnson’s jumper from the left elbow extended Iowa’s run to 16-0 before a Keyana Williams layup ended Albany’s drought at more than seven minutes. The Hawkeyes continued adding to their lead, as a Printy 3-pointer and two Samantha Logic free throws extended the advantage to 46-27 with 16:05 remaining.
The Great Danes wouldn’t fold completely, as they cut the lead to 11 (53-42) with nine minutes remaining. Albany was still within striking distance, down 57-46, with 7:14 to play, before Iowa pulled away.
A Wahlin 3-pointer stretched the advantage to 15 (63-48) and opened a 12-2 spurt that saw the Hawkeyes build a 21-point lead. Iowa pushed the margin to a game-high 24 points before claiming the 82-60 victory.
Fouls and free throws dominated the first half, as the two teams combined for 23 fouls and 25 free throws. With the score tied at 10, sophomore Theairra Taylor banked in a long two to put Iowa on top 12-10. The Hawkeyes then extended their advantage to five (21-16) behind five straight points by Melissa Dixon.
The Great Danes’ Lindsey Lowrie answered with a 3-pointer to make the score 21-19, and Albany evened the score at 23 on Forster lay-up before Iowa scored 14 unanswered points.
Eight Iowa players scored in the first half, which included a combined 11 points from freshmen Bethany Doolittle and Dixon. The Hawkeyes shot 42.3 percent (11-of-26) in the opening 20 minutes, while limiting Albany to 23.5 percent (8-of-34) shooting.
The Hawkeyes (2-1) will hit the road for the first time this season Saturday, playing at Northern Iowa at 3 p.m.