By Michael McCurdy
Iowa senior Ally Disterhoft didn’t get to play in the NCAA Tournament her senior year, but there is a silver lining to her storybook career.
Disterhoft, who crept closer and closer to the all-time school scoring record all season, got a chance to break it in front of a home crowd during a WNIT game on March 16.
Disterhoft came into the game as the second-leading scorer behind Iowa legend Cindy Haguejorde and her 2,059 points from 1976-80.
The Hawkeyes held a commanding lead throughout most of the game and eventually won by a final score of 95-74. Late in the game against the Bears, Disterhoft scored point No. 21 of the night to push her to 2,061 and atop the school’s all-time scoring list.
“The coaches have believed in me since I was a freshman,” Disterhoft said. “They have set me up to succeed on the floor as well as off the floor. My teammates have done the same.”
Midway through the fourth quarter, after the Hawkeyes had built a comfortable lead, Bluder looked at Disterhoft and asked her if she wanted to become No. 1 that night or on March 18 in the second round. Because of Disterhoft’s competitive nature, she went back into the game and collected her career-defining basket.
Disterhoft said that throughout the season, the statistic had been in the back of her mind, weighing on her subconsciously, and now that she is No. 1, a sense of relief has taken over.
The hometown wonder has had expectations pinned on her throughout her career, and the scoring record is one of the biggest feathers in her cap.
Iowa took its momentum from March 16 into a second-round matchup on March 18 against 23-8 South Dakota in Carver-Hawkeye.
The game remained close until the fourth quarter, when the Hawkeyes outscored the Coyotes 23-18, pushing Iowa to the third round of the NIT.
Disterhoft may have stolen the night in the first round, but after this Hawkeye victory, fans left Carver-Hawkeye discussing the brilliant play of sophomore Megan Gustafson.
She started the contest off early with a miss down low, then amazingly finished the game making 14 shots in a row, tallying a career-best 33 points.
“My teammates have done such a good job of looking for it, tapping in, or if they’re on the high side, getting it into me,” she said in a press conference. “Kathleen [Doyle] had a couple amazing passes to me, and she dished, so I have to credit my teammates for sure.”
In a weekend of individual accolades for the team, the Hawkeyes were not done as freshman guard Doyle passed Iowa great Sam Logic in the freshman assist record on March 18 against the Coyotes.
“When you think of Sam Logic and who she was, a first-round WNBA pick, and she’s taking that record away, that shows you what the potential is for Kathleen Doyle,” Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder said in a press conference.
The Hawkeyes will next play Thursday at 7 p.m. in Carver-Hawkeye against Colorado for a chance to make it to the WNIT quarterfinals.