Hot-Shooting Hawkeyes Cruise to 98-53 Exhibition Win

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By DARREN MILLER
hawkeyesports.com

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Head coach Lisa Bluder wanted her offense to work hard and long for a good shot Sunday when the University of Iowa women’s basketball team took on Winona State in an exhibition.
 
The Hawkeyes didn’t have to, and the end result was shooting 61 percent during a 98-53 win over Winona State in front of 3,407 on Mediacom Court in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Iowa made 39 of 64 field goals and shot 74 percent from 2-point range.
 
“At times I wanted us to have to work a little harder; I wanted us to have to execute our offense longer before we got the shot up,” Bluder said. “I know that will change quickly. Today we could get a lot of things because we wanted to.”
 
Sophomore center Monika Czinano was 13 for 13 from the field and scored a game-high 27 points. Senior guard Kathleen Doyle added 20 points with five assists, and senior Makenzie Meyer handed out eight of Iowa’s 23 assists. Senior Amanda Ollinger pulled down a game-high eight rebounds.
 
All 13 Hawkeyes played and 11 played more than eight minutes.  
 
QUOTING COACH BLUDER
“I was happy we got so many freshmen in. It is good to get the jitters out the first time you are under the lights, in front of fans, and wearing the uniform; your head can be spinning.”
 
STATISTIC OF THE GAME
Czinano made all 13 of her field goal attempts and was 1 for 1 from the free throw line. She averaged 1.9 points per 34 games last season.
 
“Monika had a good first exhibition game,” Bluder said. “You could tell she was stronger and had size advantage. We did a good job getting her the ball.”
 
The Hawkeyes finished with 23 assists.
 
“We have been doing a lot of scrimmaging, that has been a big emphasis because our offense makes us go up and down (the court) a lot more,” Czinano said. “It felt good to finally play against someone other than ourselves.”
 
WORTH NOTING
The Hawkeyes outscored Winona State, 54-12, in the paint. Iowa also scored 32 points after forcing 21 turnovers.
 
UP NEXT
Iowa opens the season Thursday against Florida Atlantic from Conference-USA. Last season the Owls were 5-25, including an 89-74 loss at Michigan State. Florida Atlantic played its exhibition game Saturday and defeated Nova Southeastern, 91-65.