No. 11 Iowa Concludes B1G Road Action at Ohio State

Feb. 20, 2015

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Game Notes: at Ohio State

THE SETTING:
The 11th-ranked University of Iowa women’s basketball team (21-5, 12-3) concludes its regular season road schedule Saturday night, playing at Ohio State (18-9, 10-5). Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. (CT) at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

WATCH THE ACTION:
Saturday’s contest will be broadcast live on BTN and BTN2Go. Lisa Byington and Debbie Antonelli will call the action. Iowa is 18-1 when playing on BTN since the start of last season.

AUDIO COVERAGE:
Brent Balbinot and Kelsey Cermak 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. Cermak was a four-year letterwinner for the Hawkeyes (2008-11).

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, the 2015 Carol Eckman Award winner, has 299 career wins at Iowa.
? Iowa is ranked No. 13 in the Associated Press Top-25 poll and No. 11 in the USA Today Coaches poll, marking the highest it has been ranked in the Coaches poll since the 1996-97 season.
? Iowa’s NCAA RPI (Feb. 20) is No. 7. Iowa is 11-4 against teams in the top 55 of the RPI.
? Iowa is in second place in the Big Ten at 12-3, one game ahead of Rutgers (11-4).
? The Hawkeyes have won at least 20 games for the seventh time in the last eight seasons.
? Iowa All-American Samantha Logic, the NCAA’s active career assists leader (825), is fourth all-time in assists in Big Ten history. Penn State’s Tina Nicholson (826 assists) is third. Logic is only the 28th player in NCAA history to record 800 assists or more in her career.
? Iowa’s Melissa Dixon leads the nation in 3-point field goals per game (3.77), while Ohio State’s Kelsey Mitchell is second (3.74).
? Ally Disterhoft has scored in double figures in 39 of her 43 career starts. Iowa is 34-9 when Disterhoft starts. She made her first career start in Iowa’s 81-74 win last year at Ohio State (24 points, 10 rebounds).
? 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 ninth nationally this season (79.3).
? 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 48-14 overall and 18-1 in games aired on BTN since the start of last season.

SCOUTING OHIO STATE:
? Ohio State is 18-9 overall and 10-5 in Big Ten play, two games behind Iowa.
? The Buckeyes have won three home games (Indiana, Michigan, Purdue), and lost at Illinois, since losing at Iowa on Feb. 5, 73-65.
? Ohio State is 13-3 at home this season, including 7-1 at home in league play. ? Kelsey Mitchell (24.9 points per game) and Ameryst Alston (20.1) make up the top-scoring back court in the country. Mitchell is second nationally and first in the Big Ten in scoring, while Alston is third in the Big Ten.
? Ohio State is coached by Kevin McGuff. He is in his second season.

SERIES HISTORY/NOTES:
? Iowa and Ohio State have met 62 times. Each team has won 31 contests.
? The Hawkeyes have won the last five meetings in the series, including all three last season.
? Iowa won the first meeting this year in Iowa City, 73-65. The home team held Mitchell (15 points) and Alston (11 points) well below their season scoring averages.
? The Hawkeyes won in Columbus last year, 81-74. Ally Disterhoft scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in her first career start. She was 12-of-12 from the free throw line and made six in a row during the final 28 seconds.
? Iowa’s Melissa Dixon leads the nation in 3-point field goals per game (3.77), while Ohio State’s Kelsey Mitchell is second (3.74). Dixon has made 98 in 26 games, and Mitchell has converted 101 in 27 games. No other player nationally has more than 79. Dixon has attempted 216 3-pointers this year, and Mitchell has attempted 269.
? Ohio State is second in the Big Ten and eighth nationally in scoring offense (79.6), while Iowa is third in the conference and ninth nationally (79.3).
? Iowa leads the Big Ten in 3-point field goal percentage (39.2%). The Hawkeyes (8.2/game) and Buckeyes (7.6) lead the league in 3-pointers.

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 299-171 (.637) mark at Iowa and a 655-313 (.677) overall record in 31 seasons as a head coach.

WBCA HONORS BLUDER WITH 2015 CAROL ECKMAN AWARD:
? Lisa Bluder is the winner of the 2015 Carol Eckman Award, the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) announced Feb. 19.
? The Carol Eckman Award is presented annually to an active WBCA member coach who exemplifies Eckman’s spirit, integrity and character through sportsmanship, commitment to the student-athlete, honesty, ethical behavior, courage and dedication to purpose. The award is named in honor of the late Carol Eckman, the former West Chester State College coach, who is considered the “Mother of the Women’s Collegiate Basketball Championship.” Eckman organized the first women’s basketball championship at West Chester in 1969, and continued to garner recognition and support for the women’s game until her death from cancer in 1985.

BEST START SINCE…:
? The Hawkeyes (12-3) are off to their best start in Big Ten play since starting 12-3 during the 1997-98 season.
? Iowa is off to its best start (21-5) through 26 games since the 1995-96 season when it opened 24-2. The Hawkeyes finished 27-4 overall and 15-1 in Big Ten action that year while advancing to the Sweet Sixteen.

#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.

FUN FACTS:
? Iowa is 48-14 overall since the start of last season (27-9 last year; 21-5 this year).
? The Hawkeyes enter Saturday’s game ranked No. 8 in the NCAA RPI.
? Iowa is 11-4 against teams in the top 55 of the RPI.
? Iowa is 19-2 this season when scoring 70 or more points, and 2-3 when failing to reach the 70-point plateau.
? The Hawkeyes are 14-1 when registering more steals than their opponent this year, and 15-2 when recording fewer turnovers.
? Iowa ranks seventh nationally in assists per game. The Hawkeyes are 14-2 when notching more assists than their opponent.
? The Hawkeyes are fourth nationally in 3-point field goal percentage (39.2%), ninth in field goal percentage (45.9%), ninth in scoring offense (79.3), 10th in assist to turnover ratio (1.33), and 16th in 3-pointers per game (8.2).

THE NATION’S LEADING 3-POINT SHOOTER:
? Iowa senior Melissa Dixon is leading the nation in 3-point field goals, averaging 3.77 per game.
? Dixon is second in the Big Ten and seventh nationally in 3-point percentage (45.4%).
? Dixon has made 98 in 26 games, while Ohio State’s Kelsey Mitchell has made 101 in 27 games. No other player in the country has converted more than 79. Dixon has attempted 216 3-pointers this year, and Mitchell has attempted 269.
? Dixon is third in Big Ten history with 308 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 (1,413 points) ranks 13th on Iowa’s all-time scoring list. Megan Skouby is 12th (1,439).
? Senior Melissa Dixon (1,374 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 1,217 career points to rank 23rd.
? Sophomore Ally Disterhoft has 875 career points. She tallied 474 in 36 games as a freshman last year (13.2 per game), and is averaging 15.4 points per game this season.

MOVING UP CAREER CHARTS:
? Samantha Logic (825 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). Nancy Kennelly of Northwestern is second (892) and Ohio State’s Samantha Prahalis is first (901).
? Melissa Dixon is Iowa’s career record holder for 3-pointers (308). 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 248 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. 11 in the USA Today Coaches poll. Iowa has been ranked in each of the first 15 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 (13/11).
? It marks the longest Iowa has been ranked since being ranked for 18-straight weeks during the 1995-96 season.
? Iowa’s No. 11 ranking marks its highest in the USA Today Coaches poll since the 1996-97 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.

UP NEXT:
The Hawkeyes return home to conclude the regular season next week, hosting Wisconsin on Thursday, Feb. 26, at 7 p.m. (CT), and Minnesota on Sunday, March 1, at 2 p.m.