No. 18 Iowa Set to Host Hawkeye Challenge

Nov. 20, 2014

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Game Notes: Hawkeye Challenge

Hawkeye Challenge Tournament Central

THE SETTING:
The 18th-ranked University of Iowa women’s basketball team hosts the annual Hawkeye Challenge this weekend on Mediacom Court at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, welcoming Dayton, Pepperdine, and UT Martin to Iowa City.

Dayton and UT Martin will meet in the first game on Friday at 5 p.m. (CT), and the Hawkeyes and Pepperdine will follow at 7:30 p.m. Pepperdine will face Dayton or UT Martin Saturday at 5 p.m., while the Hawkeyes will face the remaining opponent at 7:30 p.m.

TICKETS:
During the Hawkeye Challenge, one ticket guarantees admission to both games on Friday. Saturday, admission is free for both games. Fans that purchased tickets for Saturday will be allowed to exchange them for any other regular season game this year.

Single-game women’s basketball tickets are $12 for adults. Youth — high school-aged and younger — are admitted free to all weekday games, including Friday night games. Youth tickets for weekend games cost $8. Youth — five years old and younger — are admitted free to all games. UI students are admitted free with student ID. Tickets are available by visiting the ticket office at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, calling 1-800-IA-HAWKS, or online at hawkeyesports.com.

SEASON TICKETS:
Season tickets are on sale for the 2014-15 Iowa women’s basketball season. General public season tickets are $100. UI faculty/staff can purchase tickets for $80. Seniors (50 and older) are also $80, while youth season tickets (18 or younger) are $25. UI students are admitted free to women’s basketball games. Tickets are available by visiting the ticket office at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, calling 1-800-IA-HAWKS, or online at hawkeyesports.com.

TELEVISION:
Both Iowa games in the Hawkeye Challenge (Friday and Saturday; 7:30 p.m.) can be seen locally in the state of Iowa on Mediacom Connections (MC22) and also via BTN Plus. Rob Brooks and Shelley Till will call the action.

AUDIO COVERAGE:
Brent Balbinot and Kristi Faulkner will call both Hawkeye Challenge games 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 (and other Hawkeye Radio Network stations), or on the Hawkeye All-Access page of hawkeyesports.com.

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.

IOWA IN HAWKEYE CHALLENGE:
Iowa has won 21 of the previous 27 tournaments it has hosted, and holds an impressive 47-7 record in Hawkeye Challenge contests. The Hawkeyes defeated UC Riverside and No. 14 Dayton in last year’s Hawkeye Challenge.

DIXON REACHES 1,000, NAMED TO B1G HONOR ROLL:
Iowa senior Melissa Dixon was named to the Big Ten Player of the Week Honor Roll on Nov. 17 after recording her 1,000th-career point and averaging 18.5 points per game in a pair of wins over USC Upstate (107-65) and Robert Morris (85-67). She is Iowa’s 32nd career 1,000-point scorer.

SCOUTING PEPPERDINE:
? Pepperdine is 1-1 on the season, falling at Nebraska 100-65 in its season opener, and winning at UC Irvine on Nov. 19, 76-53.
? The Waves finished 6-25 last season with a 1-17 conference mark.
? Pepperdine is coached by Ryan Weisenberg. He is in his second season.

SCOUTING DAYTON:
? Dayton enters the Hawkeye Challenge at 0-2, falling at Washington State (76-60) and at Gonzaga (75-65). The Flyers are receiving votes in the USA Today Top 25 Coaches’ Poll, after being ranked 22nd in the preseason polls.
? Dayton won at least 20 games a year ago for the seventh-straight year (23-8), claimed the Atlantic 10 regular season title for the second-straight year, and earned an NCAA Tournament berth for the fifth-straight year.
? Dayton is coached by Jim Jabir. He is in his 12th season and is the program’s all-time wins leader.

SCOUTING UT MARTIN:
? UT Martin is 1-2, falling to Southern Illinois (87-78) and at Louisville (77-43), and defeating Cincinnati at home its last time out, 62-61.
? The Skyhawks received votes in the final 2014 USA Today Top 25 Coaches’ Poll, after winning the Ohio Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles. The Skyhawks won a program-record 24 games before falling to North Carolina in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament.
? UT Martin is coached by Kevin McMillan. He is in his sixth season.

ALL-TIME SERIES / LAST MEETING:
? Iowa has never faced Pepperdine or UT Martin.
? The Hawkeyes defeated 14th-ranked Dayton in the Hawkeye Challenge last season, 97-93, in overtime in the first ever meeting between the two schools.

HAWKEYES 18TH IN RANKINGS:
Iowa is No. 18 in the Associated Press Top-25 poll and the USA Today Preseason Coaches poll.

The Big Ten was tied with the ACC for the most ranked teams in the AP preseason poll (five). Ten different Big Ten teams received votes in the Associated Press or USA Today Coaches’ preseason top 25 polls, led by Maryland at No. 10/8 (AP/USA Today). Michigan State is ranked No. 14/15 and is followed by No. 16/16 Nebraska, No. 19/19 Iowa and No. 24/- Rutgers. Minnesota, Northwestern, Penn State, Ohio State and Purdue also received votes in at least one poll.

The Hawkeyes finished the 2013-14 season ranked 19th in the AP Top-25 poll, and 26th (receiving votes) in the USA Today Coaches poll. Iowa was ranked for eight weeks last season in the AP poll, and received votes in nine additional weeks.

HAWKEYES SET SCHOOL RECORD IN OPENER:
The Hawkeyes defeated USC Upstate in the season-opener on Nov. 14, 107-56, setting a new school record for points in a game. The previous record was 106 against North Carolina in 1990 and Northern Iowa in 1978.

TOUGH SCHEDULE:
Iowa’s schedule this season features 29 regular season games (18 conference, 11 nonconference). Of those 29 contests, 20 will come against teams that played in a postseason tournament last season. Seventeen-of-24 teams the Hawkeyes play this season reached a postseason tournament a year ago.

During the 2014 postseason, Big Ten programs combined for 15 NCAA Tournament and WNIT victories, tied for the most postseason wins in conference history.

WATCH THE HAWKEYES:
Twenty-five of Iowa’s 29 regular season contests can be seen on BTN, BTN Plus, ESPN2, ESPN3, or MC22 (Mediacom Connections). Seventeen games will appear on BTN or digitally on BTN Plus, and two additional regular season contests will be televised by ESPN2. All 18 of Iowa’s league games can be seen on one of the BTN or ESPN platforms, and the Hawkeyes’ home nonconference contest against Iowa State on Dec. 11 will be televised by BTN at 7 p.m. (CT).

NCAA STREAK BEST IN BIG TEN:
Iowa is the only Big Ten team, and one of only 14 teams in the country, to appear in the last seven NCAA Tournaments. There are 343 Division I teams.

Iowa is 1-of-21 teams to advance to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament in each of the last two seasons. The Hawkeyes, a No. 6 seed in the 2014 NCAA Tournament, defeated 11th-seeded Marist in the First Round, 87-65, marking the fourth-largest margin of victory in an NCAA Tournament game in program history.

IOWA PICKED 3RD; LOGIC NAMED ALL-BIG TEN:
Iowa has been picked to finish third behind Maryland and Michigan State in the 2014-15 Coaches Big Ten preseason rankings, while senior Samantha Logic has been named preseason All-Big Ten by league media and coaches.

Logic earned honorable mention All-America honors from the Associated Press and the WBCA as a junior last year. The Racine, Wisconsin, native was a unanimous first team All-Big Ten selection by the coaches, and a first team selection by the media to become the 18th Iowa player to garner first team All-Big Ten honors — the most of any Big Ten program.

LOGIC NAMED PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN:
Samantha Logic, a 2014 honorable mention All-American, has been named to ESPN’s Preseason All-America Second Team. Logic was joined on the second team by Rachel Banham of Minnesota, Moriah Jefferson of UConn, Isabelle Harrison of Tennessee and Aleighsa Welch of South Carolina. The first team included Jewell Loyd of Notre Dame, Tiffany Mitchell of South Carolina, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis of UConn, Nina Davis of Baylor and Breanna Stewart of UConn.

RETURNING SCORING POWER:
Last season, Iowa set the school record for scoring offense (78.2), leading the league in scoring while notching the second-most points in a season in Big Ten history (2,814). Iowa returns 84 percent of its scoring from last season, including 10 letterwinners and four starters that averaged double-figures: All-Big Ten honoree Bethany Doolittle (14.2 points per game), All-American Samantha Logic (13.3), All-Big Ten honoree Ally Disterhoft (13.2), and Melissa Dixon (13.1).

MOVING UP CAREER CHARTS:
? Samantha Logic (640 career assists) surpassed Cara Consuegra (1997-2001; 576) as Iowa’s all-time assists leader during Iowa’s win at Illinois on March 2, 2014, in the regular season finale. She ranks eighth in Big Ten history.
? Melissa Dixon is fifth in 3-pointers on Iowa’s all-time list (220). Wendy Ausdemore is fourth all-time with 221. Kamille Wahlin is third with 231.
? Bethany Doolittle is third all-time with 186 career blocks. Tangela Smith is second with 235.

HAWKEYES AT CARVER-HAWKEYE ARENA:
Iowa went 14-4 at home last season, and is 91-23 in its last 114 games inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes are 351-101 (.776) all-time inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena, and 11-6 in NCAA Tournament games.

Iowa’s 14 home wins a year ago equaled the second-highest single-season total in program history. The 14 wins were the most in Iowa City since the Hawkeyes finished 14-0 in the 1995-96 season. Iowa also won 14 home games in 1988-89 (14-0), 1987-88 (14-0), 1986-87 (14-1), 1985-86 (14-1). The program record for home wins is 15, as the Hawkeyes finished 15-0 in 1992-93. Iowa advanced to the NCAA Final Four that season.

IOWA HISTORY:
Iowa has played 1,170 games since beginning basketball in 1974. Iowa’s overall record is 721-449 (.613). That includes a 359-183 (.660) mark in regular season Big Ten contests and a 351-101 (.776) mark in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

UP NEXT:
Iowa hosts UNI on Tuesday, Nov. 25, before traveling to Las Vegas to face Arkansas (Nov. 28) and No. 24 Gonzaga (Nov. 29) in the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout.