Dec. 20, 2011
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IOWA CITY, Iowa — Three days after giving up 96 points in a road loss at Bradley, the University of Iowa women’s basketball team bounced back with a stout defensive effort to down Drake, 71-46, on Tuesday night on Mediacom Court inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
The Hawkeyes limited the Bulldogs to 15 first half points — a season low total by a UI opponent — and 46 total points — the fewest by Drake this season. The Bulldogs shot 34.5 percent (20-of-58) from the field and 18.2 percent (2-of-11) from 3-point range, while committing 22 turnovers, including 13 in the first half.
“We worked hard for this win today,” said UI head coach Lisa Bluder. “We came out with great intensity. Our defense was very good to start the game, and that defense led to some high percentage scores for us. It was a nice all-around game for our team.”
“We learned from last game, and this game we came out a lot better,” said junior Jaime Printy. “We did a really good job of playing help defense and playing together.”
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The Hawkeyes finished the game with a 42.4 field goal percentage (25-of-59) and went 14-of-15 (93.3 percent) from the charity stripe. Iowa outscored the Bulldogs 18-9 in points off of turnovers and had a 13-6 advantage in second chance points.
The Hawkeyes also had a season high 10 blocks, which included four by freshman Bethany Doolittle.
Printy paced the Hawkeyes with 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting, while Samantha Logic had 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting with three 3-pointers.
“Sam had a really nice game, not only hitting her shots, but she had four assists and zero turnovers,” said Bluder. “And some of those passes were really nice.”
Kelly Krei, Morgan Johnson and Melissa Dixon each contributed eight points, and a total of 10 Iowa players scored.
Printy got the Hawkeyes rolling from the opening tip when she corralled the ball and cruised in for a lay-up three seconds into the game. Iowa connected on its first five shots to jump out to an 11-4 lead before using a 15-2 run behind two Logic and one Krei 3-pointer to break open a 26-6 advantage. Iowa led 37-15 at the break.
The Hawkeye defense stifled the Bulldogs in the opening 20 minutes, limiting Drake to 15 points and forcing 13 turnovers, including two on shot clock violations. The Hawkeyes also blocked seven Bulldog shots in the first half.
Iowa stretched its lead to a game-high 27 points (44-17) on a pair of Printy free throws at the 16:06 mark in the second half. The Bulldogs battled back to within 18 points (58-40) with five minutes to play before Iowa went on to win by the 25 point margin.
“Hopefully this is going to get us on a roll with the consistency on the defensive end,” said Bluder. “We showed ourselves that we can do it, and sometimes that’s the most important people to prove it to.”
The Hawkeyes (7-5) will have a quick turnaround, as it returns to the court Thursday afternoon against Mississippi Valley State beginning at 5 p.m.