By Michael McCurdy
Once the pregame festivities honoring former Iowa athletics director Dr. Christine Grant ended, the Hawkeyes jumped out of the gates early on visiting Rutgers, going up 17-4 before the first quarter TV time-out.
“This was a great day for us to be able to come out here and celebrate National Women in Sport day and doing it with Vivian Stringer and Dr. Christine Grant made it even more special,” Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder said.
Even with Rutgers keeping the score within range for the remainder of the game, the Hawkeyes never surrendered the lead, defeating the Scarlet Knights, 71-57.
“I think we handled the game pretty well,” Iowa sophomore Megan Gustafson said. “Toward the end, it got a little chippy with late fouls, but we really kept our composure as a team and came together in huddles just to calm ourselves down if we ever got a little too amped up.”
Gustafson set up camp in the paint, going 10-of-13 on field goals and earning 25 points. The Knights seemed to have no answer for her; they consistently fronted her on defense because of their lack of confidence in one-on-one post defense.
A steady theme so far in Big Ten play has been the shooting struggles for senior leader Ally Disterhoft. Tonight, she got a little bit of her nonconference mojo back as she tallied 20 points, going 7-of-11 on field goals and 3-of-6 on 3-point shots.
“I think the confidence is definitely there, but really you just have to go into every game with that shooter’s mentality,” Disterhoft said. “I know that my teammates believe in me and count on me to step up to hit those shots when they’re there.”
Although Disterhoft and Gustafson were the main scorers, other players for Iowa recognized the mismatches and affected the game positively for the Hawkeyes in other ways.
Guards Tania Davis, Makenzie Meyer, and Kathleen Doyle each ended the game with 5 assists, giving the team 17 assists on 23 field goals.
Iowa heads to Michigan on Feb. 5
The Hawkeyes will not get much time to sit back and enjoy the win; in fact, they’ll be on the road within a couple of days as they prepare for a matchup against Michigan on Feb. 5 at 1 p.m. in Ann Arbor.
After the Rutgers victory, the Hawkeyes are 5-4 in Big Ten play, while the Wolverines sit at 7-2 and 18-5.
This game will be a challenge for Iowa because of the lack of rest and because Michigan is one of top teams in the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes will need to be clicking on all cylinders in order to come away victorious and add a huge win to boost their tournament résumé.
“Obviously, we’re going to have to bring a big defensive game; they’re scoring 80 points per game and they’re 11-0 on their home court,” Bluder said. “They’ve got three outstanding scorers. They have a 6-5 center, but Megan doesn’t shy away from that, but they are shooting the 3-ball very, very well, and we are going to need great 3-point defense against them at their place.”