Iowa Opens Big Ten Play With Northwestern

Dec. 28, 2011

Iowa Game Notes vs. Nwestern

IOWA CITY, Iowa — THE SETTING
The University of Iowa women’s basketball team opens Big Ten play Friday against the Northwestern Wildcats. Friday’s game on Mediacom Court at Carver-Hawkeye Arena is set for 6 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.

Friday is also “UI Faculty/Staff Appreciation” night. Any UI Faculty/Staff receive free admission (with valid staff ID) and can purchase a $5 ticket for a guest.

ON YOUR TELEVISION
Friday’s game will be televised live by Mediacom. Jerry Kiwala and Shelley Till will call the action.

AUDIO COVERAGE
Brent Balbinot and former Hawkeye JoAnn Hamlin will call Friday’s game for the Hawkeye Radio Network. Hawkeye fans can listen to the contest on on the Hawkeye All-Access page of hawkeyesports.com.

ON YOUR COMPUTER
Friday’s contest vs. Northwestern 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 1,080 games since beginning basketball in 1974. Iowa’s overall record is 660-420 (.611). That includes a 329-165 (.666) mark in regular season Big Ten contests and a 315-90 (.778) mark in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN
The Northwestern Wildcats enter Big Ten play with a 10-3 overall record. In their final non-conference game, the Wildcats were defeated at home by Toledo, 75-56. Toledo turned 14 offensive rebounds into 12 second chance points and outscored Northwestern in the paint, 34-22. Morgan Jones led Northwestern with 18 points. Kendall Hackney added 10 points and seven rebounds.

Hackney leads the Wildcats with 17.2 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Morgan Jones is next at 15.5 points and is second in rebounding at 5.8 boards per contest. Brittany Orban is third on the team in scoring at 12.3 points per contest, but is sidelined with a knee injury. Dannielle Diamant is scoring 11.8 points per game. Karly Roser leads Northwestern with 82 assists.

As a team, Northwestern is averaging 67.8 points per game and shooting .418 (324-776) from the field, including .329 (77-234) from three-point distance.

NORTHWESTERN VS. IOWA NOTES
? Iowa leads the all-time series, 44-13. Iowa had won 17-straight against Northwestern until a 72-66 loss in Evanston in 2010, which was Iowa’s first loss to Northwestern under Lisa Bluder. The Hawkeyes are 21-4 against Northwestern in games played in Iowa City. Iowa has won the last 11 meetings in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

? Iowa and Northwestern share two common non-conference opponents in UNLV and Kansas State. The Hawkeyes were defeated at home by UNLV (69-59) and on the road by Kansas State in overtime (81-78). Northwestern defeated UNLV (79-49) and lost to Kansas State (64-45) on a neutral court in the BTI Invitational in Las Vegas.

? Both Iowa and Northwestern have high-ranking freshmen classes. Iowa’s class of five newcomers was ranked the 11th-best class of 2011 by ESPN HoopGurlz. Northwestern’s class of three freshmen ranked 14th. Both classes included a McDonald’s High School All-American (Iowa – Samantha Logic, Northwestern – Morgan Jones).

? Iowa freshman Kathryn Reynolds and Northwestern junior Kendall Hackney are both from Cincinnati, Ohio, and were teammates at Mount Notre Dame High School.

LAST MEETING
Iowa scorched the nets at Welsh-Ryan Arena in the second half to walk away with an 86-75 win over Northwestern (Feb. 13, 2011).

Iowa shot a blistering .704 (19-27) from the field in the final 20 minutes, including .700 (7-10) from three-point distance. Iowa also shot .818 (18-22) from the charity stripe.

Iowa trailed by 11 at half, and by as many as 13 in the second half, before a huge scoring run gave the Hawkeyes the lead. Iowa used a 21-3 run from the 18:41 mark to the 12:22 mark in the second half to gain a 46-41 lead. Iowa never let go of the lead and used clutch free throw shooting down the stretch for the win.

Kachine Alexander led Iowa with 22 points and eight rebounds. Kelly Krei poured in 20 points, while Jaime Printy added 17 points, three assists and three steals. Kamille Wahlin had 10 points and nine assists.

OPPONENTS IN THE RANKINGS
Five Iowa opponents are ranked in the AP or ESPN/USA Today polls: Ohio State (9/12), Texas A&M (10/9), Penn State (16/17), Purdue (20/21) and Nebraska (23/RV).

In addition, Northwesternare receiving votes.

HAWKEYES END NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE WITH WIN
Iowa defeated Mississippi Valley State, 86-80, to end the non-conference portion of the schedule with an 8-5 record.

The Hawkeyes took a 53-38 lead into halftime after shooting .545 (18-33) from the field in the first half, including a .556 (10-18) effort from three-point range. Mississippi Valley State responded, netting 42 second half points and limiting Iowa to just seven second half field goals. Iowa held on for the win with free throw shooting down the stretch.

Five players scored double figures, led by Jaime Printy’s 22 points. Samantha Logic (15), Kamille Wahlin and Kelly Krei (14) and Morgan Johnson (10) rounded out the scoring. Krei grabbed seven rebounds while Wahlin dished out seven assists.

HOT-SHOOTING HAWKEYES
The Hawkeyes set or tied four three-point shooting records in their win over Mississippi Valley State (Dec. 22).

? Iowa set a school record for three-pointers made in a single game with 14. The previous record was 13 (at Gonzaga, NCAA Tournament first round, 3/19/11).

? Iowa tied the Carver-Hawkeye Arena record for three-pointers made in a single game (14 by Northern Iowa, 12/19/06), and set the Iowa record for three-pointers made in Carver-Hawkeye Arena (12 vs. Illinois, 2/14/10).

? The Hawkeyes set a new school record for three-pointers attempted inside Carver-Hawkeye with 35. The previous record was 34 (vs. Penn State, 2/1/09).

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

Iowa is 216-261 from the charity stripe and their .828 free throw percentage ranks first in the Big Ten and is ranked second-best in latest NCAA statistics.

Individually, Jaime Printy leads the Big Ten with a .915 percentage and is ranked 27th-nationally in the latest NCAA statistics.

The Hawkeyes haven’t missed more than six free throws in any game this year and have attempted at least 10 in every contest, including seven games with 20 or more attempts.

JOHNSON AMONG THE BEST AT HER POSITION
Junior Morgan Johnson’s .825 (52-63) free throw percentage is not only second-best on the team, it’s the second-best percentage in the country for players listed as true centers.

Only Ruta Zurauskyte from Santa Clara has a better free throw percentage among players listed as centers in the most recent NCAA statistics.

WAHLIN LENDING A HELPING HAND
Kamille Wahlin has been unselfish in Iowa’s last four games, while holding on to the ball.

Wahlin has recorded 21 assists over the four-game stretch and has only committed nine turnovers.

Wahlin dished out five assists vs. Western Illinois (Dec. 9), six at Bradley (Dec. 17), three vs. Drake (Dec. 20) and seven vs. Mississippi Valley State (Dec. 22).

STATS DON’T LIE
In seven of Iowa’s eight victories this season, the Hawkeyes have recorded a higher field goal percentage than their opponents.

In all five of Iowa’s losses, the Hawkeyes have had a lower shooting percentage than their opponents.

The only opponent to record a higher field goal percentage and still lose was Mississippi Valley State (Dec. 22).

JOHNSON FROM THE FIELD
Junior Morgan Johnson has atttempted at least 10 shots in six of Iowa’s 13 games this season. In five 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, 5-10 (.500) at Iowa State and 13-20 (.650) at Bradley.

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

REACHING DOUBLE FIGURES
Iowa’s game vs. Mississippi Valley State (Dec. 22) marked the sixth time this season that at least three players have scored 10 or more points. In those games, Iowa is 5-1 (only loss was at Kansas State).

The Hawkeyes had all five starters score double figures against Mississippi Valley State. Four players hit double figures against Northern Iowa, Kansas State and Western Illinois. Three players reached double digits against Harvard and Albany.

CONSISTENT STARTS
Two Hawkeyes have recorded consistent starts in certain statistical categories through 11 games this season.

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

? Freshman Samantha Logic has grabbed at least five rebounds and dished out at least four assists in eight of Iowa’s 13 games.

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

? Kamille Wahlin ranks third in career three-pointers made (186), eighth in career assists (1355) and 19th in career scoring (1,207). She needs 36 more three-pointers to move past Wendy Ausdemore into second place, three more assists to move past Nadine Domond for seventh place and 24 more points to past Lisa Long for 18th place.

? Morgan Johnson ranks second in career blocks (184) and needs 52 more to move past Tangela Smith for first place.

? Jaime Printy ranks fifth in career three-pointers made (176), 16th in career scoring (1,244) and 17th in career assists (258). She needs 10 more three-pointers to move past Kristi Smith for fourth place, three more points to move past Kristi Faulkner for 15th place and five more assists to move past Leah Magner to move into 16th place.

? Kelly Krei ranks seventh in career three-pointers made (139) and needs 18 more to move past Leah Magner into sixth place.