Iowa Hosts Minnesota State-Moorhead in Exhibition on Sunday

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THIS WEEK 
The University of Iowa women’s basketball team hosts Minnesota State-Moorhead in an exhibition contest on Sunday. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. (CT) inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Tickets are $5 for adults and free for youth (18 & younger) and UI students. 

WATCH/FOLLOW ALONG 

• Sunday’s contest will be streamed live on BTN Plus. To see if your cable package gives you access to BTN Plus content, sign up for BTN Plus, or learn more about it, visit btn2go.com. 
• Live stats are available on the Iowa women’s basketball schedule page on hawkeyesports.com. 
• The Hawkeyes have made a postseason appearance in 16 of head coach Lisa Bluder’s 17 seasons at the helm of the program, appearing in the NCAA Tournament 12 times and the WNIT three times (2003, 2005, 2016, 2017). 

AUDIO COVERAGE

• Rob Brooks and Jamie Cavey Lang will call Sunday’s game on Hawkeye All-Access. A link to the broadcast is available on the women’s basketball schedule page on hawkeyesports.com. 
• Brooks is in his second year as the play-by-play announcer for the Iowa women’s basketball team. He has been Iowa football’s sideline announcer since 2004. He has called seven different Iowa sports on radio or television. 
• Lang enters her second year as Iowa’s color commentator. She lettered at Iowa from 2002-05. Lang finished her Hawkeye career with 1,265 points and 506 rebounds. She was a two-time All-Big Ten selection. 

TICKETS 

• Season tickets are still available for purchase. Tickets are $100 for adults, $80 for seniors and UI faculty/staff, and $25 for youth (18 & younger). For more information, visit hawkeyesports.com/tickets. 
• Single-game tickets are also available for purchase. Tickets may be ordered online at hawkeyesports.com/tickets, in person at the UI Athletics Ticket Office in Carver-Hawkeye Arena, or by calling 1-800-IA-HAWKS. 

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE

• Seven of Iowa’s nonconference opponents made the 2017 NCAA Tournament, including Quinnipiac, Missouri or Western Kentucky (Hawkeye Challenge), Elon, Florida State, Iowa State, Northern Iowa, and Drake. 
• Five of Iowa’s nonconference opponents are ranked or receiving votes in the USA Today Coaches Preseason Poll (Oct. 26). They include: No. 14 Florida State, No. 16 Missouri, Quinnipiac (27 votes), Drake (18 votes), and Elon (1 vote). 

QUICK FACTS 

• Iowa finished the 2016-17 season with a 20-14 overall record and an 8-8 mark in conference action. 
• The Hawkeyes made their 10th consecutive postseason appearance last season (8 NCAA, 2 WNIT), earning an at-large bid to the WNIT. 
• Iowa has made a postseason tournament appearance in 16 of head coach Lisa Bluder’s 17 season at the helm of the program, receiving 12 NCAA Tournament and four WNIT (2003, 2005, 2016, 2017) bids. 
• The Hawkeyes recorded their 10th  20-win season under head coach Lisa Bluder last season. 
• Iowa returns nine letterwinners, including starters Megan Gustafson, Tania Davis, Kathleen Doyle, and Makenzie Meyer. 

SCOUTING MINNESOTA STATE-MOORHEAD

• Minnesota State-Moorhead played to a 25-5 overall record and a 20-2 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) mark last season. 
• The Dragons are ranked No. 19 in the WBCA DII Preseason Coaches Poll and No. 25 in the DII Bulletin preseason poll. They were also selected to win the NSIC this season. 
• Senior Drew Sannes was chosen as the North Division Preseason Player of the Year. She averaged 15.3 points and 8.3 rebounds last season. 
• MSUM opened the exhibition season with a 93-58 loss to South Dakota State on Oct. 26. The Dragons were led by freshman guard Brooklyn Liegel’s 13 points. 

GUSTAFSON EARNS PRESEASON HONOR 
Junior Megan Gustafson was named Preseason All-Big Ten by league coaches and media, the conference office announced Oct. 23. The Port Wing, Wisconsin, native was a first team All-Big Ten selection (league coaches and media) in 2016. She was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team in 2015.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING 

• Iowa’s 2016-17 field goal percentage of 47.1 ranked eighth nationally. 
• The Hawkeyes also ranked 13th in assists (17.6), 21st in points per game (76.1), and 22nd in defensive rebounds per game (28). 

600-POINT CLUB

• Gustafson became just the fourth Hawkeye in program history to score over 600 points in a single season and the first to do so since 1990. She netted 628 points in her sophomore campaign. 
• Gustafson joins Cindy Haugejorde (672; 79-80), Michelle Edwards (621; 87-88), and Franthea Price (614; 89-90) as the only Hawkeyes to break the 600-point mark in a single season. 

APPROACHING HISTORY

• Head coach Lisa Bluder has 699 career wins and is just one away from recording career win No. 700. 
• Bluder is 1-of-10 active Division I head coaches with 699 or more victories. 
• Bluder is in her 33rd season as a head coach and her 18th at the helm of the Hawkeyes.
• In her 17 seasons in Iowa City, Bluder — Iowa’s all-time winningest coach — has accumulated 343 wins. 
• Bluder has collected 10 20-win seasons as a Hawkeye. 

SINGLE-SEASON RECORD HOLDER

• Sophomore Megan Gustafson became Iowa’s single-season rebounding record holder with 10 boards against Missouri State on March 16. 
• The Port Wing, Wisconsin, native surpassed former Hawkeye Amy Herrig’s record of 306 (1998-99). Gustafson recorded 343 rebounds on the season. 
• Gustafson tallied a team-high 628 points on the year — the most points by a sophomore in program history. 

TANIA DAVIS — THE RETURN

• Junior point guard Tania Davis will make her return to the Iowa lineup after suffering a season-ending knee injury at Michigan on Feb. 5, 2017. 
• In 23 games last season, Davis averaged 10.9 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 4.3 assists. 

EXPERIENCED SOPHOMORES 

• Iowa’s sophomore class of Kathleen Doyle, Makenzie Meyer, and Amanda Ollinger combined for 89 games played and 52 starts last season. 
• The class accounted for a combined 38 percent of Iowa’s total steals (88/231), 37 percent of Iowa’s assists (221/600), and 22 percent of Iowa’s total points (565/2588).  

DOYLE SUCCESSFUL FRESHMAN CAMPAIGN

• Kathleen Doyle was named to the Big Ten All-Freshmen Team last season. 
• The LaGrange Park, Illinois, native averaged 9.2 points, 2.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 2.1 steals per game in her freshman campaign. 
• Doyle’s 148 assists on the season broke a program record for assists in a freshman campaign. She bested Sam Logic’s previous record of 136 set in 2012.
• Doyle broke the record for steals in a freshman season, tallying 71 to best the previous record of 57 set by Johanna Solverson in 2003.
• Doyle’s 70.1 free throw percentage and 2.1 steals per game led all Big Ten freshmen last season.

ALL-BIG TEN RECOGNITION 

• Megan Gustafson and Kathleen Doyle earned All-Big Ten accolades last season.
• Gustafson garnered first team recognition from the league coaches and media, and Doyle was named to the Big Ten All-Freshmen Team. 
• Doyle was the fourth Hawkeye in the last four years to be named to the All-Freshmen Team. Ally Disterhoft earned the honor in 2014, while Gustafson and sophomore Tania Davis were both named to the team in 2016. 
• Gustafson led the team in scoring (18.5), rebounding (10.1), and field goal percentage (.647). She scored in double figures in every game last season. Guatafson paced the team in rebounds in 30-of-34 games and led the Hawkeyes in scoring 18 times.
• Doyle averaged 9.2 points, 4.3 assists, 2.6 rebounds, and 2.0 steals per game. She scored in double figures in 15 games, including nine times in conference action. Doyle led all league freshmen, averaging 2.0 steals per game.

HOME SWEET HOME 

• Iowa was 17-4 in games played in Carver-Hawkeye Arena last season. The Hawkeyes were 14-3 in games played in the regular season and 7-1 in non-conference action on their home court. 
• Two of Iowa’s four losses at home came to top-five teams (No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 3 Maryland). 
• Iowa shot .486 from the field and .338 from 3-point range in Carver. In true road contests, Iowa shot .440 from the field and .254 from distance. 

OFFSEASON STORYLINES 

• Sophomore Kathleen Doyle was invited to the U19 United States Women’s Basketball National Team Trials. Doyle competed in the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado from May 18-21. 
• Head coach Lisa Bluder participated in “Over the Edge” on Sept. 14.  Bluder faced a fear by rappelling down a 13-story, Iowa City building to raise money for Iowa City’s Ronald McDonald House. 
• On Sept. 27, the Hawkeyes participated in Habitat for Humanity, assisting in building a house for a local family in need. 

DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINE

• Sophomore Megan Gustafson has 27 double-doubles in her Hawkeye career. 
• Last season, Gustafson broke a program record with 18 double doubles on the season. 
• Gustafson finished 2016-17 ranked fifth nationally in field goal percentage (64.7), 10th in double-doubles (18), 11th in field goals made (260) and rebounds (343), 25th in rebounds per game (10.1), 26th in defensive rebounds per game (7), and 28th in final points (628).
• Gustafson led Iowa in rebounds in 30-of-34 games last season. 
• Gustafson netted 20 or more points 15 times in her sophomore campaign. 

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 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 open the 2017-18 season on Nov. 10-11, hosting the Hawkeye Challenge at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Iowa hosts Quinnipiac on Nov. 10 at 5 p.m. (CT), before hosting the winner of Missouri/Western Kentucky on Nov. 11 at 4:30 p.m. (CT).