Things had been going well for Jaime Printy, who had been said to be progressing well in rehabilitating an ACL injury she sustained on Feb. 2 against Wisconsin. She played in a scrimmage this past weekend against Creighton, and she was slotted to be in the starting lineup Nov. 4 in an exhibition against Quincy.
But the senior hurt her hamstring in practice Thursday. Though the injury is believed to be separate from her ailing knee, head coach Lisa Bluder said its enough to keep her captain out of competition this week.
“We don’t know what the status is for Jaime,” Bluder said. “This just occurred in practice. Again, she’s doubtful for Sunday, and there’s really no reason to risk anything. I would rather have her full force on Friday than having her on Sunday.”
Iowa is slated to take on Northern Illinois on Nov. 9 in the first game of the preseason Women’s National Invitation Tournament in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Printy said she knew right away that it wasn’t a knee or ACL injury when she hurt herself in practice, even though the cause of the stumble is unknown even to her.
“I was just playing defense, and it just kind of went,” she said. “I don’t really know what happened, but it didn’t feel the best. It could be a lot worse; I’m just glad it’s my hamstring and not my knee.”
With Printy out, Bluder said her starting lineup will most likely consist of Sam Logic, Melissa Dixon, and Theairra Taylor at the guards, with Bethany Doolittle at forward and Morgan Johnson at center. Dixon will start in place of Printy.
Bluder wouldn’t divulge many details regarding the Hawkeyes’ closed Creighton scrimmage that took place on Sunday, but she did say that the Hawks came out flat in the first half of the contest but picked up their play later.
Bluder said that she doesn’t expect the same to happen this week, though, because her squad will play at home in front of a possibly riled-up home crowd, promptly after a men’s basketball scrimmage.
“I think it’s good for our program because we have the opportunity to expose our program to some fans who may not have come to our game,” Bluder said. “It’s a great environment to have the extra fans here. That’s good for our players to get used to that.”
With Printy out this weekend, senior Morgan Johnson will be the most experienced Hawkeye on the floor. Johnson was a second team All-Big Ten selection last season and was named to the preseason All-Big Ten squad for this year.
Johnson said Quincy’s post game excites her because it is a new challenge to face this season —she has yet to go up against a player that can match her 6-5 frame. She noted that not having Printy will pose a challenge for her team, too.
“I always get motivated by challenges like that; I feel like it will be exciting to play against another post,” Johnson said. “This is a big setback. We really need [Printy] as a leader and a player —‘ it’s a disappointing thing, but we’ll bounce back like we always do.”