Iowa women’s basketball crushes Dakota Wesleyan in first exhibition
Iowa women’s basketball rolled over Dakota Wesleyan in its first exhibition game of the new season.
November 6, 2018
Tuesday’s basketball’s exhibition game against Dakota Wesleyan went just as expected for the Iowa women’s basketball team.
It proved right from the start that it was the far superior team. The Hawkeyes went on a 16-3 run out of the gate and carried that momentum for 48 minutes to a 102-54 win.
While the win is pretty much a given and means nothing in the standings, it’s an important game for the Hawkeyes as it helps prepare them for the season opener.
“It’s really important to have [this] exhibition,” forward Megan Gustafson said. “It gets the younger players used to what Iowa basketball is all about. It gets helps get those pre-game jitters out.”
The 3,051 Iowa faithful might not have seen a competitive game, but they got treated to a showcase of the type of talent Iowa has this year.
Per usual, Gustafson nabbed a double-double, acquiring 22 points to go along with her 12 rebounds.
The other Iowa standout from Tuesday’s exhibition was Makenzie Meyer
She showed off her shooting ability by netting 19, shooting 5-of-9 from behind the arc, while dishing out 8 assists and pulling down 5 rebounds.
Hannah Stewart and Alexis Sevillian were among Meyer and Gustafson with the starters, and they each had impressive nights as well.
Stewart stuffed the stat sheet with 15 points, 13 rebounds, and 4 assists while Sevillian put up 17 points with 8 assists.
Tuesday night was also Tania Davis’ first game back on the court after missing most of last season with a torn ACL.
Donning a brace on her left leg, Davis failed to score on 0-of-3 shooting, but looked good running the offense, handing out 7 assists.
While Tuesday’s game marked a comeback for Davis, it also marked Iowa’s first game without preseason All-Big Ten guard Kathleen Doyle.
Iowa’s injuries also include Carly Mohns, Zion Sanders, and true freshman Kate Martin.
Because of those injuries, all three active freshmen also saw playing time in Tuesday’s exhibition, the most impressive performance coming from Monika Czinano, who put up 16 points and nabbed 5 rebounds in 29 minutes.
Even though the game didn’t mean anything, it was a special moment for Czinano to get her first taste of success at the college level.
“It felt great,” she said. “It felt good to be out in Carver after all that time of expecting to play in Carver. It felt good to be out there with my team.”
Tomi Taiwo added 8 points with 3 rebounds in 22 minutes, and Logan Cook put up 3 with 4 rebounds and 2 assists in 24 minutes.
“Right now we’re only nine deep,” Bluder said. “So everybody is going to get a lot of action. What it did is it gave our freshman some great playing time.”
Now, Iowa will look toward the regular season, as has have just a few days to get ready for its season-opener on Friday where the Hawkeyes take on Oral Roberts at 7 p.m. at Carver-Hawkeye.
