No. 23 Iowa, Drake to Meet Sunday in Des Moines

Dec. 19, 2014

THE SETTING:
The 23rd-ranked University of Iowa women’s basketball team (8-2) concludes nonconference action this weekend, traveling to Drake (5-5) on Sunday. The contest is set to begin at 2:05 p.m. (CT) at the Knapp Center in Des Moines, Iowa.

WATCH THE ACTION:
Sunday’s contest can be seen on Mediacom Connections (MC22). Larry Morgan and Laura Leonard will call the action.

AUDIO COVERAGE:
Brent Balbinot and Shelley Till will call the action for the Hawkeye Radio Network. Hawkeye fans can listen to the contest on the Hawkeye Radio Network (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 11th season as Iowa’s play-by-play voice, while Till is in her 10th providing analysis.

FOLLOW THE ACTION:
Hawkeye fans can also follow the game via live stats. The link can be accessed on the women’s basketball schedule page of hawkeyesports.com.

SERIES NOTES:
? Drake leads the all-time series, 24-22.
? Iowa has won the last 12 games in the series, including a 73-51 win in Iowa City last season behind a triple-double from Samantha Logic (12 points, 17 rebounds, 10 assists).
? The Hawkeyes won the last meeting in Des Moines, 82-65, on Dec. 16, 2012. Iowa has won the last six games at Drake.
? Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder coached 10 successful seasons (1990-2000) at Drake before joining the Hawkeyes, compiling 187 wins.
? Iowa associate head coach Jan Jensen and assistant coach Jenni Fitzgerald both played and coached at Drake. Jensen is one of only two Drake women’s basketball players to have her uniform retired. Both Jensen and Fitzgerald received the Drake Double D Award, which is the highest honor Drake bestows on its student-athletes.
? Drake head coach Jennie (Lillis) Baranczyk was a four-year letterwinner at Iowa, graduating in 2004. She was an honorable mention All-American and a three-time All-Big Ten selection. She ranks fifth in career scoring (1,762), sixth in blocks (114), seventh in rebounds (827), ninth in steals (190) and 14th in assists (297).
? Shelley Till, mother of Hawkeye junior Claire Till, and Missy Disterhoft, mother of Hawkeye sophomore Ally Disterhoft, played basketball at Drake and were teammates with current Iowa assistants Jan Jensen and Jenni Fitzgerald.
? The Hawkeyes have three native Iowans: Ally Disterhoft (Iowa City), Hailey Schneden (Davenport), and Claire Till (Dubuque).
? Drake has three Iowans on its roster: Paige Greiner (Williamsburg), Caitlin Ingle (Runnells), Cortni Rush (Mason City).

SCOUTING DRAKE:
? Drake is 5-5 on the season. The Bulldogs are 2-2 at home, defeating Wisconsin (89-77) and Northwestern College (102-58), and falling to South Dakota (83-78) and Colorado State (69-56).
? Drake is led in scoring by Lizzy Wendell, who is averaging 21.2 points per game to lead the Missouri Valley Conference and rank 20th nationally.
? The Bulldogs have two others averaging double figures: Caitlin Ingle (12.4) and Becca Jonas (11.5).

LOOKING FOR THE STATE SWEEP:
? The Hawkeyes are 2-0 this season against in-state rivals, and 19-4 against Drake, Iowa State and UNI since the start of the 2007-08 season.
? Iowa defeated UNI on Nov. 25 in Iowa City, 73-45.
? The Hawkeyes downed Iowa State on Dec. 11, 76-67, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

1,000-POINT CLUB:
Four members of this year’s team have reached, or have the potential to reach 1,000 career points this season.
? Senior Samantha Logic (1,197 points) ranks 21st on Iowa’s all-time scoring list. Lisa Long is 20th (1,230).
? Senior Melissa Dixon (1,107 points) is 28th. Lisa Anderson is 27th (1,129).
? Senior Bethany Doolittle has 978 career points. She needs 22 points to become the 33rd career member of the 1,000-point club.
? Sophomore Ally Disterhoft has 626 career points. She tallied 474 in 36 games as a freshman last year (13.2 per game), and is averaging 15.2 points per game this season.

MOVING UP CAREER CHARTS:
? Samantha Logic (683 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 last season. She ranks seventh in Big Ten history. Nebraska’s Lindsey Moore is sixth with 699 career assists.
? Melissa Dixon is third in 3-pointers on Iowa’s all-time list (242). Jaime Printy is second with 252. Lindsey Meder holds the school record (261).
? Bethany Doolittle is third all-time with 203 career blocks. Tangela Smith is second with 235.

IOWA RANKED FOR THE 6TH-STRAIGHT WEEK THIS SEASON:
Iowa is No. 23 in this week’s Associated Press Top-25 poll and No. 24 in the USA Today Coaches poll. Iowa has been ranked in each of the first six weeks this year: preseason (19/19), week 2 (18/18), week 3 (17/16), week 4 (22/19), week 5 (24/24), and week 6 (23/24).

In the AP Poll, Nebraska is the highest-ranked Big Ten team (No. 12), followed by Maryland (No. 14), Rutgers (No. 17), Michigan State (No. 18), and Iowa (No. 23). Northwestern is receiving votes.

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.

Iowa’s NCAA RPI is 14. The Hawkeyes are second among Big Ten teams (Nebraska is No. 9).

ANOTHER TRIPLE-DOUBLE:
Senior Samantha Logic notched her fifth career triple-double on Nov. 22, tallying 12 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists to lead Iowa over Dayton in the Hawkeye Challenge title game. She is tied for the fifth-most triple-doubles in NCAA history, and has the most of any player as a member of the Big Ten. Suzie McConnell of Penn State (1985-88) and Louella Tomlinson of St. Mary’s (CA) (2008-11) hold the career record with seven. Stanford’s Nicole Powell (2001-04) and Alyssa Thomas of Maryland (2011-14) both posted six in their careers. Logic, Joskeen Garner (Northwestern State, 1993-96), Shalee Lehning (Kansas State, 2006-09), and Brittney Griner (Baylor, 2010-13), all have five career triple-doubles.

PESCHEL NAMED TO ALLSTATE GOOD WORKS TEAM:
Junior Kali Peschel has been nominated for the 2015 Allstate WBCA Good Works Team®. This prestigious community service award recognizes a distinguished group of student-athletes who have demonstrated a commitment to enriching the lives of others and contributing to the greater good in their communities.

Peschel, a junior from Sauk Centre, Minnesota, has played in every game for the Hawkeyes the last two seasons, making 22 starts. She was a 2014 Academic All-Big Ten honoree.

LOGIC NAMED TO WOODEN AWARD / WADE WATCH / NAISMITH LISTS:
Samantha Logic, named Preseason All-Big Ten and preseason All-America by ESPN, has been named to the John R. Wooden Award Women’s Preseason Top 30 list, comprised of the early front-runners for college basketball’s most prestigious honor. The list is chosen by a preseason poll of national women’s college basketball media members.

She has also been named a 2014-15 “Wade Watch” list candidate for the prestigious award (The Wade Trophy), the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) announced.

In addition, Logic has been named to the Naismith Trophy Women’s Top 50 Watch List, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced.

Logic, the NCAA’s active career assists leader (683), ranks seventh in assists in Big Ten history.

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.

WATCH THE HAWKEYES:
Twenty-six 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 was televised by BTN.

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 HISTORY:
Iowa has played 1,178 games since beginning basketball in 1974. Iowa’s overall record is 727-451 (.617). That includes a 359-183 (.660) mark in regular season Big Ten contests and a 356-101 (.778) mark in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

UP NEXT:
Iowa hosts Penn State in its Big Ten opener on Sunday, Dec. 28, at 2 p.m.