By James Kay
After defeating Rutgers on Tuesday, the Hawkeye women’s basketball team will stroll into Carver-Hawkeye hoping to do something they haven’t done since December: win back-to-back games.
Iowa (12-7) will square off against Minnesota (11-8) on Saturday at 2 p.m. Here are the key story lines heading into the matchup.
Feed Gustafson
In the win over Rutgers, sophomore standout Megan Gustafson only shot the ball seven times. She made the most of her opportunities by converting all of those attempts, but she needs to be included more in the Hawkeye offense.
“Megan was 7-for-7 from the field, and we didn’t give her the ball enough,” Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder said in a release after the Rutgers game.
Gustafson has been the Hawkeyes’ most consistent scorer this season. She is shooting .675 percent but is only averaging 11 shots per game. A part of this could be from Bluder’s philosophy of spreading the wealth on offense.
“I love balanced scoring, to be quite honest,” she 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.”
Bluder might want to rely heavier on Gustafson, especially with senior Ally Disterhoft shooting 37 percent from the field in the last five games.
In their last away loss to Indiana, the Gophers allowed Hoosier center Alexis Gassion to pummel them for 26 points on 10-of-18 shooting. Gustafson has the ability to put up similar numbers.
Turnovers hinder Hawkeyes
In their December losses, the Hawkeyes averaged 16 turnovers per game. Against Illinois, they turned the ball over 23 times. When asked about the number of turnovers Bluder said the team isn’t where it needs to be.
The good news for the Hawkeyes is that Minnesota is just as loose with the ball as Iowa has been. The Gophers average 17.1 turnovers a game while committing 34 more turnovers than their opponents. Freshman Kathleen Doyle, whose 2 steals per game rank seventh in the Big Ten, could take advantage of an inattentive Gopher offense.
Minnesota also ranks second to last in the Big Ten in steals per game, which may benefit the Hawkeyes. Iowa can use the Gophers’ inconsistency on offense and tentative defense to find consistency of their own.
Disterhoft inches closer to all-time scoring record
Despite only scoring 6 points in the win against Rutgers, Disterhoft passed Jaime Printy on Iowa’s all-time scoring list to move up to third.
With 10 games remaining in the regular season, she will need to average 21.6 points per game to tie the 35-year-old record held by Cindy Haugejorde.
The prospects of Disterhoft becoming Iowa’s all-time leading scorer are dwindling — she has struggled to make the most of her limited opportunities on offense. She is averaging just under 10 shots per game in the last five games while making five of her 29 3-point attempts.
She has eclipsed the 20-point mark three times this season, while also adding four 17-point performances.