By Mario Williams
It’s been well over a month into the 2015-16 season, and the Iowa women’s basketball team has left fans with quite a bit to discuss.
Iowa now sits at 8-2 in nonconference play and remain undefeated in Carver-Hawkeye.
A closer look into the numbers reveals the mixed statistical bag the Hawkeyes have found themselves in.
Scoring Average — 76.5 points per game (ninth in the Big Ten)
Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder and her team appear to have picked up just a little bit from where they left off last season.
The Hawkeyes averaged 79.5 points per game last season, which is just 3 points higher than the average thus far.
Averaging just more than 76 points a game, the Hawkeyes are ninth in the conference, almost a point away from the Fighting Illini. Maryland leads the way averaging 89.0 points per game.
While the team is only battling it out in nonconference matchups, if it wants to be higher in the conference, pushing the momentum will be key. It won’t be an easy task when Big Ten play comes around.
Iowa junior Ally Disterhoft has kept her team’s scoring averages high; she averages 17.1 per game. The guard has put up double figures in all 10 contests and scored a career high of 26 points in the squad’s 69-66 loss against Iowa State.
Defensive rebounds: 29.3 per game (fifth in the Big Ten)
A team that was famous for its rebounds last season, thanks to Bethany Doolittle, has kept up with high expectations. Doolittle grabbed 161 rebounds last season, and as a team, the Hawkeyes tallied 854 rebounds, averaging 36.4 per game.
Iowa now averages 41.0 rebounds per game. While that number will need to improve before conference play rolls in, it’s a big step in the right direction.
Senior Kali Peschel has paced the Hawks, averaging 4.6 defensive rebounds.
Depth
It’s not a surprise that the Hawkeyes are a young team, and thus far, they’ve enjoyed having that label. Iowa has made the best out of the talented and youthful squad it has.
It has started with the bench, with energy coming from freshmen Tania Davis and Megan Gustafson. Sophomore Carly Mohns has also come off the bench at key times for the Hawkeyes.
Aside from its youth, the Hawkeyes have three players in double figures, while Peschel and Gustafson are just shy from that leading trio.
Shooting .322 percent from behind the arc, Alexa Kastanek leads the way for the Hawkeyes in 3-point percentage. Mohns and Disterhoft have also added some flavor from downtown.
The starting five have remained the same in every contest: Disterhoft, Kastanek, Chase Coley, Whitney Jennings, and Peschel, but there’s also no telling what Bluder could have up her sleeve once conference play arrives.
Follow @Marioxwilliams for Iowa women’s basketball news, updates, and analysis.
