Kelly Krei shot so well on Sunday, the announced crowd of 2,752 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena gasped when she missed her first field goal nearly seven minutes into the first half.
The junior forward made her first six shots and scored on four-straight Iowa possessions early in the game.
Just nine players dressed for Iowa in its first game of the season — a 101-59 exhibition victory over Concordia-St. Paul — and Krei’s hot shooting overshadowed any potential depth problems the Hawkeyes may have.
Although head coach Lisa Bluder’s squad returned all five starters from last year, losing guards Theairra Taylor and Trisha Nesbitt early in the preseason revisited an issue Iowa had last year — numerous players with injuries. Forward Kalli Hansen also missed Sunday’s contest with back pain.
Krei’s 25 points paced the Hawkeyes, and all nine players registered in the scoring column against Division-II Concordia.
"It was really nice to see my shot on today, and my teammates were passing the ball nicely," said Krei, who was 9-of-12 from the field.
The Hawkeyes didn’t appear to miss a beat with three of its players out, though, as transition scoring seems to be a recurring theme from last year.
Iowa scored 23 points off turnovers.
"That’s something we’re really trying to stress this year a little bit more is that we want to push the ball," Bluder said. "And I thought we looked good and really tried to do that tonight."
In just 20 minutes of play, Morgan Johnson posted a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds. The Hawkeyes scored 42 of their points in the paint.
With just four days before Iowa’s first regular-season game on Friday against Southern, Johnson said Sunday’s win was crucial, albeit an exhibition.
"It was definitely necessary for our confidence today that we came out and did really well," she said. "I think it’s just going to translate into our next game."
All-American candidate Kachine Alexander also had a double-double, finishing with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
While Bluder doesn’t foresee her team reaching the century mark against top-25 teams, Sunday’s result didn’t come as a surprise.
"I think what you want to do is look to dominate," Bluder said. "That’s what we want to do every time, is we want to look to dominate in all of our categories. We really try to challenge them in the defensive end, and we met all of our defensive goals tonight."