The Hawkeyes are ready for redemption after a heartbreaking loss to Iowa State.
By Rod Engblom
The Iowa women’s basketball team is set for their first game in eight days against Bradley on Saturday.
The Braves are 4-4 this season. Bradley is a defensive-based team that focuses on taking away the passing lanes and forcing turnovers but has difficulty scoring.
The Hawkeyes are ready to get back on the court not only because of the long break but also because of the heartbreaking loss against Iowa State in their last game.
“Hungry is a great word to describe it,” junior Ally Disterhoft said. “We’ve had a while to sit on that Iowa State loss, and anytime you have an extended period of time to think about those what-ifs, you just want to get back after it.”
The Hawkeyes lost to Iowa State after giving up the lead in the fourth quarter and being outscored 23-12.
Head coach Lisa Bluder responded to the team’s tough loss with an unscheduled practice the day after.
“I don’t do that very often,” she said. “I don’t remember the last time I did that, but I needed to get back on the court, and I think they needed to get back on the court. It was probably one of the better practices we had in a long time, so I think it was effective, and I think they got the message loud and clear.”
The nonscheduled practice was meant to be a wake-up call for the team.
Originally, the team was going to be given the weekend off, but with such a disappointing loss, Bluder wanted to be sure the players were in the right mindset.
“It was definitely a statement made by the coaches,” freshman Tania Davis said. “We don’t want to lose a rivalry game, especially to a team that we know we should have beaten.”
The practice put the Hawks back in the right mindset, and they’ve worked on the fundamentals to get back to where they were.
But while the Hawkeyes were getting their heads and skills back in the game, they had an unfortunate setback. During practice this week, sophomore Carly Mohns suffered a knee injury.
“We know for sure she has a torn meniscus,” Bluder said. “We don’t know if it’s going to delay her a month or four months, and we won’t know that until after surgery today.”
Mohns suffered the injury in a noncontact drill while landing after a jump. She had surgery on Thursday morning.
Despite the loss of Mohns, the team is ready to go against Bradley.
“I think we’re just really excited to get back on the court and play,” senior Kali Peschel said. “We don’t like sitting on a loss for a whole week during finals week, and finals week is a tough week for everyone. It would be nice just to get back out there and get a win.”
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