Iowa Returns Home to Face Western Illinois

Dec. 8, 2011

Iowa Game Notes vs. WIU

IOWA CITY, Iowa — THE SETTING,
The University of Iowa women’s basketball team hosts Western Illinois Friday on Mediacom Court at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.

Tickets are $9 for adults. Youth (18 and under) and UI students (with valid student ID) are admitted free).

PROMOTIONS
Friday is a “Family Four Pack” night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. For $25, fans will receive four tickets, four hot dogs and four drinks.

AUDIO COVERAGE
Brent Balbinot and Shelley Till will call Friday’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 eighth season as Iowa’s play-by-play voice, while Till is in her seventh providing analysis.

ON YOUR COMPUTER
Friday’s contest vs. Western Illinois will be streamed live on hawkeyesports.com via the BTN Digital Network. Hawkeye All-Access subscribers can watch live video streams of UI events on the BTN Digital Network at no extra charge.

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.

IOWA HISTORY
Iowa has played 1,076 games since beginning basketball in 1974. Iowa’s overall record is 657-419 (.611). That includes a 329-165 (.666) mark in regular season Big Ten contests and a 312-90 (.776) mark in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

SCOUTING WESTERN ILLINOIS
The Western Illinois Leathernecks are 3-5 overall, with wins over Hannibal-LaGrange, Valparaiso and North Dakota State.

In their last game, the Leathernecks dropped an 88-55 decision at Eastern Illinois Monday night. Valencia Kelly led Western Illinois with 14 points and four assists, while Michele Savatori had a team-best seven rebounds. Eastern Illinois outscored the Leathernecks, 44-20, in the paint and turned 18 offensive rebounds into 22 second chance points.

Sadie Webb leads the team with 14.9 points per game. Savatori is next at 11 points and leads the team with 8.5 rebounds. Kelly is scoring 10.4 points per contest.

As a team, Western Illinois is averaging 66.8 points per game and shooting .355 (182-512) from the field, including .314 (54-172) from three-point distance.

WESTERN ILLINOIS VS. IOWA NOTES
? Iowa leads the all-time series, 6-2. The last meeting came in Iowa City during the 2007-08 season (70-49 win for Iowa). Five of the eight meetings have been in Iowa City, with the Hawkeyse winning all five of those games.

? Western Illinois assistant coach Kerry Juhlin is from Cedar Falls, Iowa. She played at Drake and also spent time as an assistant coach at Loras College.

? Western Illinois graduate manager Jessie Biggs is from Ottumwa, Iowa. She played at Northern Iowa and spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Coe College.

OPPONENTS IN THE RANKINGS
Four Iowa opponents are ranked in the AP and ESPN/USA Today polls: Texas A&M (8/7), Purdue (12/14), Ohio State (13/15) and Penn State (17/18).

In addition, Michigan and Northwestern are receiving votes.

HAWKEYES DROP GAME IN AMES
The Hawkeyes were defeated at Iowa State Wednesday night, 62-54. Iowa held the Cyclones without a point for 6:08 in the first half, using a 12-2 run to gain a 21-16 lead. The Hawkeyes gave up six points in the final five seconds of the half and took just a one point lead into the locker room at halftime.

Iowa State limited Iowa to just a .269 (7-26) field goal percentage in the second half to seal the win. The Cyclones forced 22 turnovers and converted them into 21 points and also outscored Iowa in the paint, 24-14.

Junior Morgan Johnson led Iowa with 16 points and added seven rebounds. Freshman Melissa Dixon chipped in 11 points and four rebounds off the bench. Senior Kalli Hansen had a game-high 10 rebounds.

BACK-TO-BACK CAREER NIGHTS FOR HANSEN
Senior Kalli Hansen has been a spark off the Iowa bench, recording career highs in points and rebounds in two-straight games.

Against Kansas State (Dec. 3), Hansen recorded career-highs in points (11), field goals made and attempted (4-6), three-pointers made and attempted (2-3) and assists (2).

She followed with a career-best 10 rebounds at Iowa State.

DIXON’S STRONG SHOWING AT IOWA STATE
Freshman Melissa Dixon turned in her best performance in a Hawkeye uniform at Iowa State (Dec. 7).

Dixon was Iowa’s second-leading scorer with 11 points, and also added four rebounds. She was 4-7 from the field, including 2-5 from three-point range.

JOHNSON FROM THE FIELD
Junior Morgan Johnson has atttempted at least 10 shots in five of Iowa’s nine games this season. In four of those games, Johnson has shot .500 or better.

Johnson was 5-10 (.500) vs. Harvard, 9-13 (.692) at Northern Iowa, 6-11 (.545) at Kansas State and 5-10 (.500) at Iowa State.

The only game Johnson failed to shoot .500 with 10 or more shots was vs. Virginia Tech (8-21, .381).

CHARITY STRIPE SUCCESS
The Hawkeyes have cashed in from the free throw line so far this season.

Iowa is 142-177 from the charity stripe and their .802 free throw percentage ranks first in the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes entered the week with the fourth-best free throw percentage in the NCAA.

Individually, Jaime Printy’s .889 free throw percentage is third-best in the Big Ten and she entered the week ranked 45th in the NCAA.

REACHING DOUBLE FIGURES
Iowa’s game at Kansas State (Dec. 3) marked the fourth time this season that at least three players have scored 10 or more points.

The Hawkeyes had four players in double figures against Northern Iowa and Kansas State. Three players reached double digits against Harvard and Albany.

NO DOUBLE FIGURES, NO PROBLEM
Iowa had just one player (Morgan Johnson) score double figures in a win over Virginia Tech (Nov. 30).

The last time an Iowa team won a game with just one player in double figures was Dec. 2, 2007 vs. Detroit when Kristi Smith netted 10 points.

Since the game vs. Detroit in 2007, Iowa teams have only had one player score 10 or more points just seven times. The Hawkeyes lost all seven of those contests.

HITTING FROM OUTSIDE
Kelly Krei has emerged as Iowa’s top three-point shooter.

Krei is 16-34 from beyond the arc and leads the team with a .471 three-point percentage. Her three-point percentage ranks second in the Big Ten.

CONSISTENT STARTS
Three Hawkeyes have recorded consistent starts in certain statistical categories through seven games this season.

? Junior Jaime Printy has scored at least 15 points in all but three games, including three 20 point performances.

? Freshman Samantha Logic has grabbed at least five rebounds and dished out at least four assists in five of Iowa’s nine games.

? Junior Morgan Johnson has recorded three blocks in four of Iowa’s first nine contests.

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

? Kamille Wahlin ranks fourth in career three-pointers made (180), 10th in career assists (334) and 21st in career scoring (1,157). She needs six more three-pointers to move past Kristi Smith into third place, six more assists to move past Kachine Alexander for ninth place and four more points to past Tia Jackson for 20th place.

? Morgan Johnson ranks second in career blocks (176) and needs 60 more to move past Tangela Smith for first place.

? Jaime Printy ranks fifth in career three-pointers made (167) and 19th in career scoring (1,174). She needs 14 more three-pointers to move past Wahlin for fourth place and 20 more points to move past Crystal Smith for 18th place.

? Kelly Krei ranks eighth in career three-pointers made (132) and needs seven more to move past Kristi Faulkner into seventh place.