By Rod Engblom
The Iowa women’s basketball team is set to face Western Illinois today at 7 p.m. in Carver-Hawkeye.
The Hawkeyes’ last game was a comeback victory against Tennessee-Martin on Sunday; they started out down 10-0.
“Western Illinois is a team that loves to score,” head coach Lisa Bluder said. “They average 93 points a game, and they have four people in double figures. They have a freshman who comes off the bench and leads them in scoring.”
Last season, the Leathernecks finished with a record of 17-13 averaging 72.4 points per game. This season, they are currently 2-0 after defeating Central Methodist, 108-46, and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, 78-74.
Although the Leathernecks have averaged 93 points a game, Bluder is wants the Hawks to play a similar game to the Tennessee-Martin contest.
“Half of their shots are 3s, so it’s a very similar team to Tennessee-Martin, who we just played,” Bluder said. “No true post, half their shots are 3s, and 38 percent shooting from 3-point range.”
Although the Hawkeyes beat Martin, they started off slowly, and the team would like to turn that around.
While starting each game down isn’t what the team wants to do from here on out, the players believe that they can learn from their mistakes.
“It’s good to put yourself in positions where you’re challenged,” sophomore Whitney Jennings said. “We were challenged on Sunday and so I think having to play under that kind of pressure and being down and trying to come back is good for us, and we know that we can do that going here on out.”
The slow starts have been a different beginning of the season for this team. Last season, the Hawkeyes had a couple of blowout wins against St. Ambrose (119-57) and USC-Upstate (107-56) to start the season.
While the team knows Western Illinois is a high-scoring team, the Hawkeyes will try to continue the game plan as they normally do in practice.
“I think it’s always just focusing on the fundamentals both offensively and defensively, spacing on offense, working the ball, and defensively being in proper positioning,” junior Ally Disterhoft said. “Our offensive and defensive plans will change game to game based on who we are playing, but our fundamentals are always the same.”
But overall, the slow starts aren’t a big concern.
“I think we missed some pretty good shots,” Bluder said. “You go back, and you look at film, and you look at their shot selection, and it wasn’t bad. To me, if you’re missing good shots, there’s no reason to panic. You just have to get in the gym, and get confidence, and hit those shots, and that’s easy.”