The Hawkeyes snap the Buckeyes
By: Mike Rabon
Every time Ohio State Guard Samantha Prahalis touched the basketball a rain of boos and jeers echoed through the hallowed stairwells and bleachers in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Prahalis did her best to quiet the rowdy Hawkeye faithful but her 22 points, 4 assists and 2 steals were no match for Bluder’s determined and feisty bunch as the Iowa defeated Ohio State 89-76.
Kachine Alexander scoring on Ohio State Center Jantel Lavender (Photo by Matthew Holst via hawkcentral.com)
Four Hawkeye players scored in double-digits on Saturday night with Jamie Printy leading the way at 25 points. Printy shot a salty 80% from the field including 2-2 from the 3-point line. Interestingly, Ohio State shot 57% from the field in the First Half yet trailed by 5 points due to late 3-point shooting heroics by Printy.
In the Second Half, Iowa increased its shooting percentage to 51.7% and Ohio State’s percentage precipitously declined to 31.4%.
Coach Jim Foster of Ohio State was clearly upset with the 3-point shooting during the whole of the game. Ohio State shot a putrid 4-22 from beyond the arch and now sit in dead last in the Big Ten Conference in 3-point shooting percentage whereas last year the Buckeyes were number one.
Ohio State Center Jantel Lavender made her presence known with 17 rebounds but scored 10 points off her usual mark of 24 and only had 9 shot attempts through 39 minutes of play on Saturday. Morgan Johnson’s reverse layup at the 5:32 mark right in front of Lavender brought the Carver-Hawkeye Arena crowd of 9,865 to its feet smelling victory and atonement for Iowa’s heartbreaking defeat in the Big Ten Tournament Championship a season ago.
Kamille Wahlin had a quiet 18 points and 4 assists while the eccentric Kachine Alexander thunderously screamed after almost every scored basket. Alexander recorded 16 points and 13 rebounds, her 4th double-double of the season and 28th in her career.
Iowa travels to East Lansing to play the Michigan State Spartans on Thursday, January 13th. The Spartans are currently 3-0 in conference play. Ohio State travels to Evanston to take on the Lady Wildcats of Northwestern.
Iowa Women’s Basketball Team Set for Showdown with Buckeyes
By Kif Richmann
Last year the Iowa Hawkeye women’s basketball team made to the championship game of the Big Ten Tournament. They lost a heart-breaker to OSU.
Now the AP #21 Hawkeyes (13-3, 1-2) get a chance at payback, as they welcome the #20 Ohio State Buckeyes (10-4, 1-1) to Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Saturday. Not only is this a big game in the Big Ten, it is also bobble-head night for Iowa’s star guard, Kachine Alexander.
Tip off is scheduled for 3 pm, and the game will be featured nationally on CBS.
Iowa's Kachine Alexander will have her work cut out for her on her own bobblehead night. (photo via NCAA.com)
Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder talks about rivalry game with OSU
Bluder discusses slowing down Big Ten leading scorer and rebounder Jantel Lavender
Kachine Alexander on last year’s Big Ten championship and matchup against Samantha Prahalis
Ohio State’s offense starts with 6’4″ center Jantel Lavender, who leads the Big Ten in points-per-game (24.5) and total rebounds (158). Keeping Lavender under control will fall to more than one player, as the Hawkeyes will likely put a double team on Lavender whenever possible.
Iowa’s 6’5″ center Morgan Johnson will likely shoulder most of the Lavender duty, as Johnson is the only player on the Hawkeye roster taller than Lavender. Hawkeye fans should be enthusiastic about this matchup, as “Not in my House” Johnson is third in the Big Ten in blocks, averaging 2.4 per game.
On the perimeter, two of the best and most passionate competitors in college basketball will duel, as Iowa guard Kachine Alexander will face OSU’s Samantha Prahalis, a fiery and often opposing-fan-aggravating opponent.
Although Prahalis’ fierceness and passion has made her into a top guard in the Big Ten, she can be frustrated into making mistakes. If Alexander can deter Prahalis enough, expect a turnover or two and even a possible foolish foul from Samantha.
As Iowa will have a tough interior challenge against a big Buckeye team, Bluder’s bunch will likely rely heavily on 3 point shooting. Expect Iowa, which has attempted more 3 pointers than any Big Ten team (396), to live or die behind the arc. (FYI- #2 in Big Ten 3 pts attempted is Michigan with 334, 62 less than the Hawks.)
Iowa will need shooters Jaime Printy, Kelly Krei and Kamille Wahlin to be on point in order to get past the Buckeyes.
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