Women's Hoops Hosts Concordia in Exhibition

Nov. 1, 2013

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Iowa Games Notes

THE SETTING:
The University of Iowa women’s basketball team hosts Concordia-St. Paul in an exhibition game Sunday at 1 p.m. (CT) on Mediacom Court at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The game is part of a men’s/women’s doubleheader, with the men’s team taking on Augustana (Ill.) at 3:30 p.m.

Tickets are $5 for adults and free for youth (18 and under) and UI students. Any fan that purchases a ticket for the women’s game is invited to stay for the men’s exhibition game, which tips off 30 minutes after the conclusion of the women’s game. Fans staying for the second game will be asked to find an open seat.

Free posters, schedule cards, magnets, schedule key tags, basketball key chains will be available while supplies last. Women’s basketball season ticket holders can also pick up their “Bluder’s Bunch” t-shirt (must have t-shirt ticket from season tickets).

NOTE: The Cambus Shuttle will be running from Hancher beginning at noon Sunday to accommodate both the men’s and women’s basketball traffic.

AUDIO COVERAGE:
Brent Balbinot and Shelley Till will call Sunday’s game for the Hawkeye Radio Network. Hawkeye fans can listen to the contest on AM-800 KXIC in Iowa City, AM-1360 KMJM in Cedar Rapids, AM-1040 WHO in Des Moines or on the Hawkeye All-Access page of hawkeyesports.com. Balbinot is in his 10th season as Iowa’s play-by-play voice, while Till is in her ninth providing analysis.

FOLLOW THE ACTION:
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. Fans can watch live on the Big Ten Digital Network.

SEASON TICKETS:
Season tickets are on sale for the 2013-14 Iowa women’s basketball season. General public season tickets are $85. UI faculty/staff can purchase tickets for $68. Seniors (50 and older) are also $68, while youth season tickets (18 or younger) are $20. UI students are admitted free to women’s basketball games.

IOWA HISTORY:
Iowa has played 1,132 games since beginning basketball in 1974. Iowa’s overall record is 692-440 (.611). That includes a 348-178 (.662) mark in regular season Big Ten contests and a 335-97 (.775) mark in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

IOWA IN THE RANKINGS:
The Hawkeyes are receiving votes in the USA Today Coaches Poll. Seven Iowa opponents are also ranked in the Associated Press/USA Today polls: Nebraska (17/12), Penn State (13/15), Dayton (14/16), Michigan State (20/18), Colorado (19/19), Iowa State (23/20), and Purdue (18/23). In addition, Syracuse and Minnesota are receiving votes.

IOWA SELECTED TO HOST NCAA 1ST AND 2ND ROUNDS:
The University of Iowa and Carver-Hawkeye Arena have been selected by the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee to serve as one of 16 hosts for the first and second rounds of the 2014 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship. Iowa is 1-of-8 schools chosen to host first/second round games for the second-straight year.

The 2014 NCAA Championship will mark the 13th time the University of Iowa has served as a host. Iowa hosted its first NCAA action in 1986 when it was one of four regional final sites. Carver-Hawkeye Arena also hosted from 1986-90, 1992-94, 1996-98 and in 2009 and 2013. Carver-Hawkeye Arena has hosted the regional finals four times and first and/or second round games 11 times.

Iowa hosted first and second round games in 2009. Despite having late afternoon and evening games on a Sunday in March of 2009, Iowa’s site recorded the fourth-highest first round attendance (5,615).

In 2013, the first round of the Iowa City Regional drew 6,836 fans, which was the third-best attended site among the 16 host sites. In addition, Iowa City had the sixth-best figure for second round games (4,942) and the fifth-highest total attendance (11,778).

LOGIC NAMED PRESEASON ALL-BIG TEN:
Junior Samantha Logic was named Preseason All-Big Ten by league media, the conference office announced Thursday. Logic, a junior from Racine, Wis., started all 34 games last season and was a third team All-Big Ten selection. The 5-foot-9 guard set school records for single-season assists (217) and single-game assists (14 vs. Texas, Dec. 28). Logic tallied five double-doubles, and led the Big Ten and ranked 15th in the NCAA in assists per game (6.4).

NCAA STREAK LEADS THE BIG TEN:
Iowa is the only Big Ten team, and one of only 13 teams in the country, to have appeared in the last six NCAA Tournaments.

SCOUTING CONCORDIA:
The Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears, located in St. Paul, Minn., are members of the NCAA Division II Northern Sun Conference (NSIC). The Golden Bears are ranked ninth in the USA Today Sports Division II Top 25 Coaches’ Poll, and were picked to finish first in the NSIC. Concordia finished the 2012-13 campaign with a record of 23-7 and a No. 24 final ranking. The Golden Bears won the Northern Sun Conference with a 19-3 mark and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.Concordia returns 10 letterwinners, and all five starters, from last year’s squad. Three Golden Bears averaged double figures a year ago: Anika Whiting (17.6 pts/game), Rachel Hansen (10.9), and Carissa Wolyniec (10.1). Concordia is led by 14th-year head coach Paul Fessler. Last season, he led the Golden Bears to a fifth NSIC regular season championship and ninth NCAA Tournament appearance. The program also has three NSIC Tournament titles and a pair of runs to the Sweet Sixteen in his tenure. Fessler is a three-time NSIC Coach of the Year and is the program’s all-time wins leader (278-119). Fessler is a graduate of Sutherland High School in Sutherland, Iowa, and a graduate of the University of Northern Iowa.

WELCOME BACK:
Former Iowa standout Kachine Alexander is in her second season an assistant coach for the Golden Bears. Alexander left her mark on the Hawkeye program, earning the most All-America awards in school history. She was a four-time All-American after being named honorable mention by the Associated Press and WBCA as a junior and senior. She earned first team All-Big Ten honors as a junior and senior, along with second team accolades as a sophomore. The Minneapolis native became the first Big Ten women’s basketball player to record two triple-doubles in the same season when she accomplished the feat as a sophomore. She also became the first Iowa player, and just the fifth in Big Ten history, to record 1,000 career points, 800 career rebounds and 300 career assists. Alexander finished her career ranked second in school history in double-doubles (34), second in rebounding (910), eighth in assists (339) and 16th in scoring (1,239). Alexander was selected in the third round of the 2011 WNBA Draft by the Minnesota Lynx.

SUCCESS UNDER BLUDER:
Last season marked the 10th time in 13 seasons under head coach Lisa Bluder — one of 13 active Division I coaches with 600 or more wins — that Iowa has been selected for the NCAA Tournament, including each of the last six seasons. The Hawkeyes have participated in postseason play in all but one season under Bluder (two WNIT appearances). It also marked the seventh time in Bluder’s 13 seasons that the Hawkeyes reached 20 wins. Iowa has collected 20 or more wins in five of the last six years. In addition, Iowa finished with a winning record for the 12th time in 13 seasons under Bluder.

GOLDWIRE JOINS HAWKEYE STAFF:
Lacey Goldwire joined the UI coaching staff in August, after spending the 2012-13 season as an assistant coach at Morehead State. Prior to joining the Eagles’ staff, Goldwire served on the Oklahoma State staff for four seasons — two as a student assistant and two as a graduate assistant. Following Oklahoma State’s tragic loss of its head and assistant coach during a plane crash in November of 2011, Goldwire was elevated to interim assistant coach where she took on added recruiting duties. During her time with the program, the Cowgirls won 80 games and advanced to the postseason all four years, winning the 2012 WNIT championship. Goldwire, an Oklahoma City native, played collegiately at East Central (Okla.) University where she ranks fifth in career scoring with 1,340 points. Goldwire, an all-state and all-city player at Del City (Okla.) High School, graduated from Oklahoma State with a bachelor of science in education and a master’s degree in teaching, learning and leadership.

A LOOK BACK AT 2013:
Iowa finished the 2012-13 campaign with a 21-13 overall record, including an 8-8 mark in Big Ten play. The Hawkeyes were an at-large selection for the NCAA Tournament, earning a No. 9 seed and hosting the first and second rounds. Iowa knocked off No. 8 seed Miami, 69-53, in the first round before falling to No. 1 seed and second-ranked Notre Dame, 74-57. The Fighting Irish advanced to the Final Four.

BLUDER GETS WIN NO. 600:
Head coach Lisa Bluder became the 42nd coach in NCAA women’s basketball history (all divisions) and only the 25th Division I head coach (minimum 10 years at a DI school) to collect 600 wins Jan. 20 vs. Purdue. Bluder is one of 13 active Division I coaches with 600 or more wins.

NEXT UP:
Iowa will host UC-Riverside in the opening game of the Hawkeye Challenge on Nov. 8 at 6 p.m. The Hawkeye men follow with their home-opener against UNC-Wilmington at 8:30 p.m.