Iowa, Nebraska Set for Monday Night Showdown

Jan. 25, 2015

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Game Notes: Nebraska

THE SETTING:
The 18th-ranked University of Iowa women’s basketball team (15-3, 6-1) hosts No. 15 Nebraska (15-3, 5-2) on Monday night. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. (CT) on Mediacom Court at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

PROMOTIONS:
? Samantha Logic Bobblehead Night – Free bobbleheads for the first 1,000 fans
? Buck Night – All adult tickets are $1
? UI Faculty & Staff Night – University of Iowa faculty and staff receive free admission with a valid UI ID

WATCH LIVE ON BTN:
Monday’s contest will be broadcast live on BTN. Eric Collins and Mary Murphy 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 (Gametracker). The link can be accessed on the women’s basketball schedule page of hawkeyesports.com. Follow @iowawbb on Twitter for live game updates.

QUICK HITS:
? Iowa is ranked No. 20 in the Associated Press Top-25 poll and No. 18 in the USA Today Coaches poll.
? Iowa’s NCAA RPI (Jan. 24) is 11, while Nebraska is ranked 27th.
? The Hawkeyes have won 9-of-10 games overall, and four straight. Nebraska has won 8-of-10, and five straight.
? Iowa is 11-0 at home this season, and 25-4 at home since the start of last season.
? Iowa enters Monday’s game in second place in the Big Ten at 6-1, one game ahead of Nebraska (5-2). Maryland is in first place in the league at 7-0.
? The Hawkeyes last started 6-1 in Big Ten play during the 1997-98 season.
? Iowa is off to its best start through 18 games (15-3) since the 1995-96 season (17-1).
? The Hawkeyes are 15-1 this season when three or more players score in double figures.
? Melissa Dixon leads the nation in 3-pointers/game (3.8), while the Hawkeyes lead the Big Ten in 3-pointers per game (7.9).
? Iowa set the school record for scoring offense (78.2) last season, leading the league in scoring while notching the second-most points in a season in Big Ten history (2,814). The Hawkeyes rank 15th nationally this season (78.1).
? Ally Disterhoft has scored in double figures in 32 of her 35 career starts. Iowa is 28-7 when Disterhoft starts.
? Iowa senior Samantha Logic, the NCAA’s active career assists leader (748), ranks sixth in assists in Big Ten history. Penn State’s Jess Strom is fifth with 776 career assists.

BEST BIG TEN START SINCE 1998:
The Hawkeyes are 6-1 in Big Ten play for the first time since the 1997-98 season. Iowa is off to its best start (15-3) through 18 games since the 1995-96 season when it opened 17-1, and eventually 20-1.

SCOUTING NEBRASKA:
? Nebraska is 15-3 overall and 5-2 in Big Ten play, one game behind Iowa (6-1) in the league standings.
? The Huskers are 6-2 on the road this season, and 3-1 on the road in Big Ten play.
? Rachel Theriot (17.1), Emily Cady (12.7), and Tear’a Laudermill (12.4) average double figures for the Huskers.
? Connie Yori is in her 13th season as head coach at Nebraska. She is the all-time winningest coach in program history.

SERIES HISTORY:
? Nebraska leads the all-time series, 10-7.
? The Huskers have won the last eight meetings.
? The schools have split six meetings in Iowa City, with Nebraska winning the last three.
? Iowa dropped two meetings to Nebraska last season. The Huskers won in Iowa City, 80-67, before downing the Hawkeyes in the Big Ten Tournament title game, 72-65.

LOGIC NAMED SENIOR CLASS AWARD CANDIDATE:
Senior point guard Samantha Logic is one of 30 NCAA Division I women’s basketball players to be named a candidate for the 2015 Senior CLASS Award®. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. Logic is one of two candidates from the Big Ten, joining Nicole Elmblad of Michigan. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. The two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree, Big Ten Distinguished Scholar, and Dean’s List member is active in the eastern Iowa community, volunteering with numerous charities, organizations, and local elementary schools.

LOGIC NAMED TO WOODEN AWARD MIDSEASON TOP 20:
Senior Samantha Logic has been named to the John R. Wooden Award Women’s Midseason Top 20 list, comprised of the front-runners for college basketball’s most prestigious individual honor. The list is chosen by a poll of national women’s college basketball media members. Logic is the only player from the Big Ten on the midseason list.

FUN FACTS:
? Iowa is 42-12 overall since the start of last season (27-9 last year; 15-3 this year).
? The Hawkeyes enter Sunday’s action ranked No. 11 in the NCAA RPI. Iowa is the second-highest ranked Big Ten team in the RPI; Maryland is No. 4.
? Iowa is 14-0 this season when scoring 70 or more points, and 1-3 when failing to reach the 70-point plateau.
? The Hawkeyes are 11-0 when registering more steals than their opponent this year, and 11-1 when recording fewer turnovers.
? Iowa ranks 20th nationally in assists per game. The Hawkeyes are 11-1 when notching more assists than their opponent.
? The Hawkeyes are ninth nationally in 3-point field goal percentage (38.3%), 15th in scoring offense (78.1), 17th in field goal percentage (45.5%), 18th in assist to turnover ratio (1.21), and 21st in 3-pointers per game (7.9).

THE NATION’S LEADING 3-POINT SHOOTER:
? Iowa senior Melissa Dixon leads the nation in 3-point shooting, averaging 3.83 3-pointers per game. Kelsey Mitchell of Ohio State is second (3.74).
? Dixon made six 3-pointers (6-of-10) in the win at Rutgers on Jan. 4, surpassing Lindsey Meder (261) for the most in Iowa history.
? Dixon ranks fifth in Big Ten history with 279 career 3-pointers.
? She scored 31 points in Iowa’s win at Drake on Dec. 21, making 10 3-pointers (10-of-14), setting a new school record. The previous school record was seven, accomplished five times in program history, twice by Dixon; the NCAA and Big Ten record for 3-pointers in a single game is 12.

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 (1,286 points) ranks 16th on Iowa’s all-time scoring list. Amy Herrig is 15th (1,319).
? Senior Melissa Dixon (1,264 points) is 19th. Jamie Cavey is 18th (1,265).
? Senior Bethany Doolittle became the 33rd member of Iowa’s 1,000-point club in the Hawkeyes’ win over Penn State on Dec. 28. She has 1,084 career points.
? Sophomore Ally Disterhoft has 740 career points. She tallied 474 in 36 games as a freshman last year (13.2 per game), and is averaging 14.8 points per game this season.

MOVING UP CAREER CHARTS:
? Samantha Logic (748 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, during the 2013-14 regular season finale. She ranks sixth in Big Ten history. Jess Strom of Penn State (776) is fifth, while Helen Darling of Penn State is fourth (791).
? Melissa Dixon is Iowa’s career record holder for 3-pointers (279). She ranks fifth in Big Ten history. Amber Moore of Illinois is fourth (293), and Lindsay Bowen of Michigan State is third (294). Kelly Mazzante of Penn State is second (357), while Maggie Lucas of Penn State is the Big Ten record holder (365).
? Bethany Doolittle is third all-time in program history with 225 career blocks. Tangela Smith is second with 235.

IOWA RANKED FOR THE 11TH-STRAIGHT WEEK THIS SEASON:
Iowa is No. 20 in this week’s Associated Press Top-25 poll and No. 18 in the USA Today Coaches poll. Iowa has been ranked in each of the first 11 weeks this year: preseason (19/19), week 2 (18/18), week 3 (17/16), week 4 (22/19), week 5 (24/24), week 6 (23/24), week 7 (23/20), week 8 (20/20), week 9 (17/17), week 10 (22/21), and week 11 (20/18).

In the AP Poll, Maryland is the highest-ranked Big Ten team (No. 7), followed by Nebraska (No. 14), Iowa (No. 20), Minnesota (No. 21), and Rutgers (No. 25).

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 AT CARVER-HAWKEYE ARENA:
The Hawkeyes are 360-101 (.780) all-time inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena, and 11-6 in NCAA Tournament games. Iowa went 14-4 at home last season, and is 100-23 in its last 123 games inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes are 11-0 at home this season.

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.

ANOTHER TOP ATTENDANCE YEAR:
Iowa ranked 22nd in the country in attendance last season, averaging 4,395 fans per contest. Last year marks the fourth-straight season that Iowa has ranked inside the top 25 in attendance. The Hawkeyes were 19th in attendance in each of the previous two years, and were 13th in 2010. Iowa currently ranks 18th in average attendance (4,667).

IOWA HISTORY:
Iowa has played 1,186 games since beginning basketball in 1974. Iowa’s overall record is 734-452 (.617). That includes a 365-184 (.660) mark in regular season Big Ten contests and a 360-101 (.780) mark in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

UP NEXT:
Iowa plays six of its next eight games on the road. The Hawkeyes play at Northwestern on Thursday, Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. (CT), before traveling to Maryland on Sunday, Feb. 1, at 3 p.m. (CT).