The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

Iowa women’s basketball playing unselfishly

Assists are a statistic just as valuable as rebounds and points.

This year, Iowa, given its well-balanced roster, has used assists to its advantage. And leading the way is sophomore point guard Sam Logic.

“She would rather have a pass than a score, and that’s so seldom anymore,” Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder said. “What I also like about Sam is that you give her a challenge, and she’s going to step up and meet it.”

The Racine, Wis., native leads the Big Ten in assists at 7 per contest, which ranks sixth in the nation. She’s tallied at least 8 assists in six of Iowa’s last eight games — the Hawkeyes are 6-2 in that span.

Logic’s play thus far has helped the Black and Gold land a spot in the AP and USA Today top-25 pollds — coming in at No. 24 and No. 25 respectively — their first spot in such polls since February 2011.

“It has a lot to do with my teammates,” Logic said. “Having numerous threats inside and outside with Bethany [Doolittle] playing well now, too, it’s really rounding out our team.”

Iowa’s depth is allows Logic to be successful on the court. For a point guard to have a scorer in guard Jaime Printy and two dynamic post players in Doolittle and center Morgan Johnson is a great advantage.

“On any night, any one on our team can step up. Which has been proven since Big Tens,” Johnson said. “I was seeing double-teams one game, and Jaime [Printy] stepped up and had a big game. Bethany has also stepped up and had big games. You can’t stop every one on our team.”

The Hawkeyes are a very cohesive unit, which allows for numerous players to be called upon to step up when Johnson or Printy — the senior guard was named Big Ten Player of the Week this week — faces too much pressure from opposing defenses. The Hawkeyes’ ability to share the basketball and break down defenses is why they lead the Big Ten and rank 25th in the country in assists with 16 per contest.

All of this however, isn’t possible without the progression of Logic.

“She has made a lot of progress and has cut down her turnovers tremendously,” shooting guard Theairra Taylor said.

The Hawkeyes next game will surely test their focus as they play at Illinois tonight, which has lost all three of its Big Ten games at home.

“Playing at Illinois is going to be one tough basketball game,” Bluder said. “They are an aggressive team, and you have to keep your composure. I think Sam is going to be big for us because she did such a great job in the Michigan game of keeping her composure and the rest of the team fed off that.”

Iowa leads the series 49-16 and has won its last eight games against the Fighting Illini.

Logic and the rest of the Iowa squad will have to maintain their high-level of play as they prepare for the second half of their conference schedule.

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