Was this victory characteristic of this season’s Hawkeyes, or was this game more of a confidence-booster for the team?
By Rod Engblom
The Iowa women’s basketball team looked as though the players hadn’t skipped a beat from last season after beating Upper Iowa, 95-41, in the first exhibition game of the season.
The squad showed its characteristic speed in transitioning from defense to offense and scored 15 more points than last year’s game average of 80 points per game.
“I saw unselfish play,” head coach Lisa Bluder said. “We had 22 assists. I thought we took care of the ball. We only had 9 turnovers. We had 18 steals in the game tonight, 10 blocked shots, a lot of really good performances by our team.”
The Hawkeyes shot 49.3 percent in field goals, 28.6 percent in 3 pointers, and 68 percent in free throws.
The freshmen also had a good outing; Megan Gustafson finished with a double-double in her first college game, scoring 19 points and snaring 11 rebounds. She showed she was able to play a physical style.
“I think it’s a big part for any post player to have that physical advantage,” Gustafson said. “You just have to keep pushing to try to be a physical as possible.”
Tania Davis also had a solid first outing, with 7 assists and 14 points.
While these points look impressive, Upper Iowa wasn’t much of a contender.
“When you play Division 1 opponents versus Division 2 opponents, the defense is going to get better,” Bluder said. “It’s going to take that number down a little bit.”
Upper Iowa was 7-20 last season, 2-3 in nonconference games. Its road record wasn’t impressive, either, only winning two out of 12 away games.
Not only did the Hawks play well, they played well without their top scorer, Ally Disterhoft, in the lineup.
“I don’t think having Ally out was a bad thing at all for us,” Bluder said. “I thought we pushed the ball extremely well. I thought we got out and ran very, very well, and that’s nice to see. Sometimes, Ally has led our fast break and gotten out and run those wings. It’s nice to see other people do it.”
Disterhoft didn’t play because of an unexplained “minor injury” and is expected to come back this week.
Upper Iowa wasn’t much of a match for Iowa, and the 95 points probably won’t be the type of scoring that the team will produce this season.
The exhibition game was a game to raise the players’ confidence, and fans will have to wait to see how this year’s squad matches up against D-1 opponents.
“It was definitely was a confidence-builder,” senior Kali Peschel said. “I didn’t feel like anyone was on me for a couple points, but it was just a nice momentum starter and just got our team on the right track.”
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