Dec. 7, 2011
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AMES, Iowa — Hilton Coliseum isn’t horseshoes or hand grenades. In other words, close doesn’t count when you’re on the Iowa State Cyclones’ home court.
Iowa State (5-2 overall) finished the first half with a flurry and continued that momentum into the final 20 minutes for a 62-54 nonconference victory over Iowa (5-4) in women’s basketball Wednesday. It is the closest the Hawkeyes have been to victory in Ames since a 101-94 overtime loss Dec. 3, 2003.
Iowa made 16-of-54 field goal attempts (29.6 percent) and Iowa State was successful on 22-of-64 attempts from the floor (34.4).
“I didn’t think we deserved to win this basketball game,” UI head coach Lisa Bluder said. “We turned the ball over way too many times — 22 turnovers that result in 21 points for Iowa State. It’s hard to win games if you don’t shoot the ball well and you don’t have an opportunity to shoot it.”
The Hawkeyes grabbed their biggest lead at 27-18 with 2:32 left in the first half. Iowa made a six-point move following a flagrant foul on Iowa State’s Chelsea Poppens and a technical foul on Cyclone head coach Bill Fennelly. Kamille Wahlin made 1-of-2 free throws for the technical, Morgan Johnson made 2-of-2 free throws for the flagrant foul and a second later, Samantha Logic drained a 3-point field goal.
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Iowa State closed the final 1:51 on an 8-0 run (Iowa led 27-26 at the break); the Cyclones added the first field goal of the second half as well. Iowa State’s largest lead was 13 points (62-49 with 63 seconds remaining).
The game showcased the continued improvement of Iowa freshman guard Melissa Dixon, who finished with 11 points (4-of-7 from the field, 2-of-5 from 3-point range) with four rebounds and no turnovers.
“Melissa Dixon has been a great spark for us off the bench,” Bluder said. “She shot the ball well for us and was the only player on the team that didn’t have a turnover, so that was nice to see.”
Johnson scored a team-high 16 points with seven rebounds and two blocks. Kalli Hansen pulled down 10 rebounds (with just one turnover) and Logic added eight boards.
The Hawkeyes had two players foul out — Jaime Printy with 4:50 left and Johnson at the 2:01 mark.
Iowa State outscored the Hawkeyes 21-8 off turnovers and 24-14 in paint points.
“We’re missing too many easy shots and when you miss easy shots, it takes away our confidence,” Bluder said. “Turnovers hurt your confidence as well.”
Iowa returns to Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Friday to play Western Illinois with a 7 p.m. (CT) tip.
“I hope some people come out and help us out because we really need some support; we could really use a boost,” Bluder said. “Hopefully Hawkeye fans will come out and stay with us through thick and thin.”