No. 13 Iowa, Minnesota Meet Tuesday on BTN

Feb. 16, 2015

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Game Notes: at Minnesota

THE SETTING:
The 13th-ranked University of Iowa women’s basketball team (21-4, 12-2) continues action on the road Tuesday night, playing at Minnesota (20-6, 9-5). Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. (CT) at Williams Arena in Minneapolis.

WATCH THE ACTION:
Tuesday’s contest will be broadcast live on BTN and BTN2Go. Lisa Byington and Shelley Till will call the action. Iowa is 18-0 when playing on BTN since the start of last season.

AUDIO COVERAGE:
Brent Balbinot and Todd Werner 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.

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:
? Head coach Lisa Bluder has 299 career wins at Iowa.
? Iowa is ranked No. 13 in the Associated Press Top-25 poll and No. 13 in the USA Today Coaches poll.
? Iowa’s NCAA RPI (Feb. 16) is No. 7. Iowa is 11-3 against teams in the top 55 of the RPI.
? The Hawkeyes have won four straight, and 10 of their last 11 games.
? Iowa is in second place in the Big Ten at 12-2, two games ahead of Rutgers (10-4).
? The Hawkeyes have won 21-of-25 games played, the quickest 20-win season for Iowa since 1995-96.
? Iowa is 5-2 on the road in conference play, with two league road games remaining (at Minnesota, at Ohio State).
? Iowa senior guard Samantha Logic, the NCAA’s active career assists leader (812), is fourth all-time in assists in Big Ten history. Penn State’s Tina Nicholson (826 assists) is third. With 10 assists at Nebraska, Logic became the 28th player in NCAA history to record 800 assists or more in her career.
? Iowa’s Melissa Dixon is fifth nationally in 3-point percentage (46.7%). She is second nationally in 3-point field goals per game (3.72) and total (93).
? 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 eighth nationally this season (79.3).
? Ally Disterhoft has scored in double figures in 39 of her 42 career starts. Iowa is 34-8 when Disterhoft starts.
? 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 349 Division I teams.
? Iowa is 48-13 overall and 18-0 in games aired on BTN since the start of last season.

BEST START SINCE 1995-96:
? The Hawkeyes (12-2) are off to their best start in Big Ten play since starting 13-1 during the 1995-96 season.
? Iowa is off to its best start (21-4) through 25 games since the 1995-96 season when it opened 23-2. The Hawkeyes finished 27-4 overall and 15-1 in Big Ten action that year while advancing to the Sweet Sixteen.

SCOUTING MINNESOTA:
? Minnesota is 20-6 overall and 9-5 in league play. The Gophers are tied for fourth in the Big Ten with Northwestern and Ohio State.
? Minnesota is 11-2 at home this season, with losses to Maryland and Purdue.
? Four Gophers are averaging double figures: Rachel Banham (18.6), Amanda Zahui (17.5), Shae Kelley (16.5), and Carlie Wagner (12.0). Banham is sidelined for the remainder of the season due to injury.
? Minnesota is coached by Marlene Stollings. She is in her first season.

SERIES HISTORY/NOTES:
? The Hawkeyes are 47-23 all-time against Minnesota.
? Iowa swept the season series against the Gophers last season, winning in Iowa City (78-71) and in Minneapolis (64-56).
? The Hawkeyes have won six of the last seven against Minnesota.
? Iowa hosts Minnesota for Senior Day in the regular season finale on March 1 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena (2 p.m. CT).
? Three Hawkeyes — freshman Chase Coley (Minneapolis), senior Bethany Doolittle (Oakdale), junior Kali Peschel (Sauk Centre) — hail from the state of Minnesota.

APPROACHING 300 AT IOWA:
? Head coach Lisa Bluder has led the Hawkeyes to 299 wins in her 15 seasons at the helm of the program.
? Two other coaches have won 300 or more games while at a Big Ten school (as a member of the conference): Karen Langeland, Michigan State (376 wins) and Rene Portland, Penn State (335 wins).
? Iowa logged its 20th victory of the season on Feb. 12 at Nebraska. It is the team’s quickest 20-win season since 1995-96.
? Bluder has led Iowa to three consecutive 20-win seasons and eight overall. Iowa has won at least 20 games in seven of the last eight years.
? Bluder owns a 299-170 (.637) mark at Iowa and a 655-312 (.677) overall record in 31 seasons as a head coach.

#LOGICALCHOICE:
? Hawkeye guard Samantha Logic was named one of 10 finalists for the 2014-15 Senior CLASS Award on Feb. 12.
? Nationwide fan voting has begun to select the winner at seniorclassaward.com.
? Fans can vote for Logic — the #LogicalChoice — once per day on every device until March 23.
? The Racine, Wisconsin, native is the lone finalist from the Big Ten Conference.
? 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 athletic platforms to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
? To be eligible for the award, student-athletes must be classified as NCAA Division I seniors and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.

NAISMITH TROPHY LIST NARROWS, LOGIC MAKES THE CUT:
? Samantha Logic remains in the running for the Naismith Trophy, appearing on the Midseason 30 list released by the Atlanta Tipoff Club on Feb. 11.
? Logic is one of three players from the Big Ten Conference to appear on list, joining sophomore Lexi Brown of Maryland and sophomore Tyler Scaife of Rutgers.
? The award is given to the women’s college player of the year in early April.

FUN FACTS:
? Iowa is 48-13 overall since the start of last season (27-9 last year; 21-4 this year).
? The Hawkeyes enter Tuesday’s game ranked No. 7 in the NCAA RPI.
? Iowa is 11-3 against teams in the top 55 of the RPI.
? Iowa is 19-1 this season when scoring 70 or more points, and 2-3 when failing to reach the 70-point plateau.
? The Hawkeyes are 14-0 when registering more steals than their opponent this year, and 15-1 when recording fewer turnovers.
? Iowa ranks seventh nationally in assists per game. The Hawkeyes are 14-1 when notching more assists than their opponent.
? The Hawkeyes are third nationally in 3-point field goal percentage (39.8%), ninth in field goal percentage (46.3%), eighth in scoring offense (79.3), 11th in assist to turnover ratio (1.27), and 17th in 3-pointers per game (8.1).

LOGIC NAMED TO BIG TEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONOR ROLL:
Samantha Logic was named to the Big Ten Player of the Week Honor Roll on Feb. 16 after averaging 10.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 10.5 assists per game in Iowa’s wins at No. 20 Nebraska and at home over Indiana.

SHARP 3-POINT SHOOTER:
? Iowa senior Melissa Dixon is second in the nation in 3-point field goals, averaging 3.72 per game.
? Dixon is first in the Big Ten and fifth nationally in 3-point percentage (46.7%).
? Dixon has made 93 in 25 games, while Ohio State’s Kelsey Mitchell has made 97 in 26 games. No other player in the country has converted more than 79.
? Dixon is third in Big Ten history with 303 career 3-pointers.
? 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.
? 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.
? Dixon finished 9-of-10 from 3-point range in Iowa’s 102-99 win at Northwestern (Jan. 29).

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 (1,385 points) ranks 13th on Iowa’s all-time scoring list. Megan Skouby is 12th (1,439).
? Senior Melissa Dixon (1,357 points) is 14th.
? 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 1,199 career points to rank 23rd.
? Sophomore Ally Disterhoft has 869 career points. She tallied 474 in 36 games as a freshman last year (13.2 per game), and is averaging 15.8 points per game this season.

MOVING UP CAREER CHARTS:
? Samantha Logic (812 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 is fourth in Big Ten history. Tina Nicholson of Penn State is third (826).
? Melissa Dixon is Iowa’s career record holder for 3-pointers (303). She is third in Big Ten history. Kelly Mazzante of Penn State is second (357), while Maggie Lucas of Penn State is the Big Ten record holder (365).
? Bethany Doolittle is second all-time in program history with 243 career blocks. Morgan Johnson is first with 293.

IOWA RANKED FOR THE 15TH-STRAIGHT WEEK THIS SEASON:
? Iowa is No. 13 in this week’s Associated Press Top-25 poll and No. 13 in the USA Today Coaches poll. Iowa has been ranked in each of the first 14 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), week 11 (20/18), week 12 (20/17), week 13 (16/17), week 14 (14/13), and week 15 (13/TBA).
? It marks the longest Iowa has been ranked since being ranked for 18-straight weeks during the 1995-96 season.
? In the AP Poll, Maryland is No. 5, followed by Iowa (No. 13), Rutgers (No. 19), and Nebraska (No. 21).
? 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 363-101 (.781) all-time inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena, and 11-6 in NCAA Tournament games. Iowa went 14-4 at home last season, and is 103-23 in its last 126 games inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes are 14-0 at home this season, with two regular season home dates remaining. Iowa has won 17-straight regular season home games dating back to last year. Iowa last finished undefeated at home during the 1995-96 season (14-0). The Hawkeyes have finished undefeated at home four times (1987-88, 14-0; 1988-89, 14-0; 1992-93, 15-0; 1995-96, 14-0).

Iowa’s 14 home wins a year ago and this season equal the second-highest single-season total in program history. The 14 wins equal 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.

UP NEXT:
The Hawkeyes travel to Ohio State on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. (CT) on BTN.