By James Kay
Historically, most young teams have a hard time getting going for the start of the season.
However, that was not the case for the Hawkeye women’s basketball team, which delivered a 96-76 win to start the season against Oral Roberts on Nov. 11 in Carver-Hawkeye.
The team was led by senior captain Ally Disterhoft, who had an all-around game with 29 points and 7 rebounds. Disterhoft also went to the free-throw line 13 times and converted 11.
Sophomore Meghan Gustafson built on her strong freshman campaign with her first double-double of the season. She led the team with 12 rebounds and tallied a career-high 25 points. Oral Roberts couldn’t contain Gustafson in the paint, and she was able to operate smoothly.
While her frontcourt duo excelled against Oral Roberts, Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder doesn’t see Disterhoft and Gustafson being the only contributors on the offensive end.
“I love balanced scoring, to be quite honest,” Bluder said. “I think we’re much harder to guard when we have balanced scoring. Every game is a little different depending on who your opponent is. But our goal ultimately is to have more people in double figures.”
Speaking of the rest of the team, the Hawkeyes took out an undersized Oral Roberts squad that couldn’t stop the height of the Hawkeyes. Iowa got to the free-throw line 38 times and was aggressive in the paint throughout the game.
In the second game of the young season, against Hampton, the Hawkeyes secured their second victory on Sunday in Carver-Hawkeye, 84-51.
Gustafson had a dominant game while recording her second-straight double-double (14 points and 11 rebounds). Disterhoft added 16 points and 6 rebounds, and sophomore Tania Davis tacked on 15 points.
“I thought another well-rounded game by our team today,” Bluder said. “I thought our defensive intensity was very good, especially in the second half. We really challenged our team to not give up any 3s in the second half because we felt we gave up too many in the first half. They responded by only giving up one in the entire second half.”
Hampton battled the Hawkeyes early on and went 6-of-12 from the perimeter in the first half. The Pirates opened the second quarter by cutting the Hawkeyes’ lead to make it 19-18.
The Hawkeyes rebounded quickly, however, and ran away with the game after junior Chase Coley provided a necessary lift off the bench.
“I feel like my job out there is to make sure I keep the energy rolling from the first group into the second group,” Coley said. “I feel like when one person gets a little energy, it sparks it for the rest of the team, and that’s really my goal out on the court right now.”
Coley started a 15-6 run, pushing the lead to 44-32 to end the half. She finished with 7 points and 10 rebounds in 16 minutes.
After its hot start, Hampton faltered in the last three quarters of the game. It shot 24 percent from the field and only scored 18 points in the second half.
The Hawkeyes will go on the road on Wednesday to face North Dakota. The game starts at 7:30 p.m. at the Engelstad Sioux Center.
