Hawkeyes Tangle with Wildcats Sunday

Jan. 29, 2016

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Game Notes – at Northwestern

THE SETTING
The University of Iowa women’s basketball program (14-7, 4-5) heads to Evanston, Illinois, to meet Northwestern (13-8, 2-7) on Sunday, Jan. 31 at 2 p.m. (CT) inside Welsh Ryan Arena. It is the lone matchup between the teams this season, and also UI head coach Lisa Bluder‘s 500th game as the head Hawkeye.

GAME COVERAGE
? Fans can watch the game live online on BTN Plus available at btn2go.com.
? Live audio of Sunday’s game can be heard on select Hawkeye Radio Network affiliate stations and on Hawkeye All-Access available at hawkeyesports.com. Brent Balbinot and Kristi Faulkner will call the action.
? Links to video, audio, and live stats are available on the women’s basketball schedule page at hawkeyesports.com.

BACK ON TRACK
? The Hawkeyes topped Michigan, 85-69, on their home court on Jan. 28 to end a three-game losing streak and get back on the winning track.
? Iowa’s 85 points is a team high in Big Ten play. The last time the Hawkeyes scored over 80 points was on Dec. 22 against Drake (89 points).
? Freshman Megan Gustafson recorded her first career double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds, while sophomore Chase Coley posted the third of her career with 21 points and 10 rebounds.
? Freshman Tania Davis set a career high in points with 18, and added five assists and her first career block to her line.
? Junior Ally Disterhoft also reached double figures with 16 points. She has scored in double figures every game this season and in 66 of 72 career starts.
? The squad posted 21 assists to 12 turnovers.
? The Hawkeyes matched a season best with seven blocks in the contest.
? The Iowa bench outscored Michigan reserves, 33-6.

CALL ON ME
? Junior Ally Disterhoft, a preseason All-Big Ten selection by league coaches, has been a consistent force for the Hawkeyes all season.
? Disterhoft, who averages 38.5 minutes per contest, is 11th nationally with 752 minutes played this season.
? The 6-0 forward paces Iowa in points (16.6) and rebounds (5.6) per game. She is also third in assists, averaging 2.9 per contest, and steals, averaging 1.0 per game.
? She has scored double figures in every game of the season and in 66 of 72 career starts.
? The Iowa City, Iowa, native has led Iowa in scoring in 10 of 21 games this season, scoring 20 points or more in five contests.
? Disterhoft owns a .517 field goal percentage, .365 three-point field goal percentage, and .737 free throw percentage.
? She currently ranks 18th on Iowa’s all-time scoring list with 1,325 career points and 21st all-time with 546 career rebounds. Disterhoft is the 34th player in program history to surpass the 1,000 career point threshold.

BREAKING OUT
? Ever since freshman Tania Davis, Miss Michigan Basketball 2014-15, made a statement in the Breslin Center, where she won state titles with Goodrich High School in 2012 and 2013, at Michigan State on Jan. 16 with a career highs in points (16), assists (5), and rebounds (6), she has continued to impress.
? She tallied career highs with six assists and four steals in her next outing against Penn State on Jan. 20, adding nine points and three rebounds to her line.
? Davis’ play earned her a spot in the starting lineup at Purdue on Jan. 24. She posted 14 points and dished out a career high seven assists in her third career start.
? Back in Carver-Hawkeye Arena against Michigan on Jan. 28, Davis set another career high with 18 points, dished out five assists, and posted her first career block to help secure the win.
? In the last four games, Davis is averaging 14.3 points per game with a team-leading 23 assists (5.8 per game). She also owns a .465 field goal percentage and .450 three-point field goal percentage, and averages 2.5 rebounds and 1.3 steals per contest.

SERIES HISTORY
? Iowa leads Northwestern, 51-14, in the all-time series.
? The Hawkeyes have won five consecutive games and eight of the last nine meetings against the Wildcats. Iowa’s last lost to Northwestern in Iowa City, 67-65, in 2012-13.
? Under head coach Lisa Bluder, Iowa is 25-2 against Northwestern.

A LOOK AT THE WILDCATS
? Northwestern is 13-8 overall and 2-7 in Big Ten action heading in to Sunday’s matchup.
? In 2015-16 media Big Ten preseason ranking, Northwestern was picked to finish third behind Maryland and Ohio State. Junior Nia Coffey was a preseason All-Big Ten pick by both coaches and media.
? The Wildcats posted conference wins over Nebraska, 85-62, and Ohio State, 86-82, but fell at Penn State, 79-72, against Purdue, 85-71, at Michigan State, 74-51, at Maryland, 80-62, at Minnesota, 95-92, against Indiana, 91-84, and at Ohio State, 76-73.
? Northwestern won its first 10 games of the season.
? As a team, Northwestern averages 77.1 points and 40.7 rebounds per game.
? Four players, Coffey (20.0 ppg), Maggie Lyon (16.0 ppg), Christen Inman (15.0 ppg), and Ashley Deary (13.6 ppg), are responsible for 83 percent of the Wildcat offense.
? The Wildcats, comprised of three freshmen, three sophomores, three juniors, and five seniors, are led by eighth-year head coach Joe McKeown.

MOVING UP THE CHARTS
? Junior Ally Disterhoft is 18th on Iowa’s all-time scoring list with 1,325 career points and 20th all-time with 546 career rebounds.
? She has played in every game of her Hawkeye career with 72 consecutive starts.
? Disterhoft has scored in double figures in every game this season, and in 66 of her 72 career starts.
? The co-captain leads Iowa in points (16.6) and rebounds per game (5.6).
? Freshman Megan Gustafson has compiled 34 blocks through 21 games played this season, which is fourth on the all-time freshman list at Iowa. The record at Iowa in a freshman season is 79 blocks, set by Morgan Johnson in 2009-10. She averages a team leading 1.6 blocks per game and has tallied three or more stuffs in six games this year.

CHARITY STRIPE ADVANTAGE
? The Hawkeyes are second in the Big Ten and 19th nationally in free throws made (306) this season. The squad’s 74.5 free throw percentage is the fourth best in the conference and 29th best in the country.
? Eight of 13 available players own a free throw percentage above 70 percent, including Kali Peschel (.839), Claire Till (.833), Whitney Jennings (.792), Chase Coley (.771), Alexa Kastanek (.756), Christina Buttenham (.750), Ally Disterhoft (.737), Megan Gustafson (.714), and Tania Davis (.707).
? Peschel has been perfect from the line in a team high nine games, followed by Kastanek (8), Coley (7), Davis (6), Jennings (6), Disterhoft (5), Gustafson (4), Buttenham (2), and Till (2).

REBOUNDING EDGE
? The Hawkeyes have outrebounded 13 of 21 opponents this season, averaging 39.1 rebounds per game for a +1.9 rebounding margin.
? Iowa is the only team to outrebound Maryland this year, edging the Terrapins, 38-37, in the category.
? Eight of 13 active players have pulled down 52 or more rebounds through 21 games, including junior Ally Disterhoft (5.6 rpg), sophomore Chase Coley (5.4 rpg), senior Kali Peschel (5.1 rpg), freshman Megan Gustafson (4.9 rpg), sophomore Whitney Jennings (3.2 rpg), sophomore Christina Buttenham (2.9 rpg), freshman Tania Davis (2.6 rpg), and junior Alexa Kastanedk (2.5 rpg).
? In 2014-15, Iowa averaged 36.4 rebounds per game and owned a -4.6 rebounding margin. Only six players on the roster posted 50 or more rebounds in the 34-game season.

TOP 50
? Iowa ranks 23rd nationally in assists (327) and 49th in assists per game (15.6).
? The Hawkeyes are 35th nationally with a .440 field goal percentage.
? As a team, Iowa is 19th nationally in free throws made (306), 29th in free throw percentage (.745), and 31st in free throw attempts (411). Junior Ally Disterhoft is 31st individually in free throws attempted (118) and 32nd in free throws made (87).
? The Hawkeyes are 41st in the country in scoring offense, averaging 73.6 points per game.
? Iowa is 47th nationally in three-point field goals made (139) and three-point field goals attempted (432).
? Disterhoft is 11th nationally in minutes played (752) and 51st in minutes played per game (35.81).

IOWAWBB.COM
Check out the Iowa women’s basketball team’s website, iowawbb.com, devoted to everything on-and-off-the-court surrounding the program. Iowawbb.com allows fans a chance to go behind the scenes with the Hawkeye basketball program. The site is complete with exclusive videos, photo galleries, and content featuring the basketball program.

UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes play their second consecutive road game at Indiana on Feb. 4 at 6 p.m. (CT). The contest will air live on the Big Ten Network.