Hawkeye Fan Shop — A Black & Gold Store | 24 Hawkeyes to Watch 2016-17 | Hawk Talk Monthly — Feb. 2017 | All-Big Ten Honorees
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Three University of Iowa women’s basketball student-athletes — sophomore Megan Gustafson, senior Ally Disterhoft, and freshman Kathleen Doyle — have earned All-Big Ten accolades, the league office announced Monday afternoon. Gustafson garnered first team recognition by the coaches and media, Disterhoft notched first team honors from the coaches and second team accolades from the media, and Doyle was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team. Senior Hailey Schneden was selected as Iowa’s Sportsmanship Award honoree.
It marks the sixth time in school history that two or more Hawkeyes earned first team accolades, and the first time since Iowa had three first team selections in 2001 (Cara Consuegra, Lindsey Meder, and Randi Peterson). Gustafson and Disterhoft are the 19th and 20th first team All-Big Ten honorees in program history.
Doyle is the fourth Hawkeye in the last four years to be named to the All-Freshman Team. Disterhoft earned the honor in 2014, while Gustafson and sophomore Tania Davis were both named to the team in 2016. Doyle is the ninth All-Freshman Team selection in Iowa women’s basketball history.
Gustafson earns her first career All-Big Ten Team honor after being named to the All-Freshman Team in 2016. The sophomore leads the Hawkeyes in scoring (18.0), rebounding (10.0), and field goal percentage (63.5). She has scored in double figures in every game this season. Gustafson has paced the team in rebounds in 25-of-29 games and led the Hawkeyes in scoring 15 times. She currently ranks sixth nationally in field goal percentage (63.5), 11th in double-doubles (15), 16th in field goals made (216), 20th in rebounds (291), and 26th in rebounds per game (10.0).
A native of Port Wing, Wisconsin, Gustafson has tallied a team-leading 291 rebounds on the season – just nine shy of tying Iowa’s program record for rebounds in a sophomore season. Gustafson has scored 523 points this year and needs 16 points to tie Iowa’s program record for points by a sophomore.
The 6-3 center has earned a conference weekly award five teams this season. She was tabbed the Big Ten Player of the Week on Nov. 14, before being named to the Honor Roll on Dec. 26, Jan. 2, Jan. 23, and Feb. 27.
Disterhoft, a preseason All-Big Ten selection by league coaches, earns her third straight All-Big Ten honor after being named to the second team in each of the last two seasons. The Iowa City, Iowa, native ranks second on the team in points (16.6) and rebounds (5.5). She’s shooting 51.2 percent from the field and 35.0 percent from 3-point range in 32.7 minutes per game.
On Feb. 22, 2017, Disterhoft became just the second Hawkeye in school history to surpass 2,000 career points (Cindy Haugejorde, 2,059). She ranks second all-time in career scoring (2,022), eighth in 3-pointers made (159), 11th in rebounds (769), and 12th in career blocks (72). Disterhoft has played in all 133 games of her Hawkeye career and made 113 consecutive starts.
The 6-0 guard/forward was named to the Big Ten Player of the Week Honor Roll on Feb. 13. Disterhoft, the 2015-16 Academic All-American of the Year, is a three-time Academic All-District selection, and a two-time Academic All-American, Big Ten Distinguished Scholar, Academic All-Big Ten, and WBCA Allstate Good Works Team honoree.
Doyle is averaging 8.9 points, 4.2 assists, 2.4 rebounds, and 2.0 steals per game. The LaGrange Park, Illinois, native has scored in double figures in 13 games, including nine times in conference action. Doyle leads all league freshmen, averaging 2.0 steals per game. She also ranks fourth among conference freshmen in assists (4.2) and fifth in assist to turnover ratio (1.8).
In 16 conference games, Doyle is averaging 10.1 points, 4.8 assists, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.1 steals. She is tied for sixth in the league in assists and steals per game.
On Feb. 26, the 5-9 guard broke the program record for steals in a freshman season. Doyle’s 58 steals bested Johanna Solverson’s record of 57 set in 2002-03. She has dished out 122 assists on the season and is 14 from tying Samantha Logic’s record of 136 (2011-12) assists in a freshman campaign.
The eighth-seeded Hawkeyes begin 2017 Big Ten Tournament play on Thursday against ninth-seeded Northwestern. Tipoff is set for 11 a.m. (CT) at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. With a win, Iowa will advance to play top-seeded Ohio State on Friday at 11 a.m.
All 13 games of this year’s Big Ten Tournament are televised live to a national audience, with BTN carrying all games from the first round through the semifinals from Wednesday to Saturday live on its linear network, as well as through its BTN2Go platform. Sunday’s Big Ten Tournament championship game is televised live on ESPN2 and the WatchEPSN platform.
