Count Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder among Madison Weekly's admirers

IOWA CITY — Lisa Bluder is a coach. When it comes to Madison Weekly, she's also a fan.

'I've always liked her, and I've always respected her,' Bluder said. 'Madison's a terrific player and a great person. I think the world of that kid.'

Bluder goes against her alma mater when the Iowa Hawkeyes (5-3) host Northern Iowa (4-3) at 2 p.m. Sunday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Iowa owns a 19-2 all-time advantage in the series with the Panthers, including nine consecutive wins.

Led by Weekly, UNI's top three scorers are Eastern Iowa natives.

A former Benton Community star, Weekly is averaging 16.0 points per game this season and has climbed to No. 7 on UNI's career scoring list with 1,374 points.

'She can beat you both ways,' Bluder said. 'She has deep range, and she can drive against you. And she has four assists per game.'

Mikaela Morgan, a sophomore from Iowa City West, is next at 8.7 points per game. Megan Maahs, a freshman from Western Dubuque, follows at 7.9 ppg.

Sunday marks the first of three games for the Hawkeyes against in-state competition. They host Iowa State on Wednesday, then face Drake on Dec. 18 in Des Moines.

'(Playing the) intrastate rivals, that's going to give us some energy,' Iowa post Megan Gustafson said.

As of Friday, all four Division-I teams from Iowa are among the nation's top 100 in RPI. UNI leads at 33rd, followed by Iowa State (65th), Drake (81st) and Iowa (95th).

'I think for UNI and for us, our records aren't indicative of what kind of teams we are,' Bluder said. 'I think we're both better than our records might say.'

The Hawkeyes are coming off a 73-58 home loss to No. 1 Notre Dame. After viewing the tape, Bluder confirmed her postgame take on the game.

'The middle two quarters were very, very good,' she said. 'Our starts have to get better. I don't know if it's attitude, or focus ... are we up enough to play? Are we up too much?'

Free-throw shooting has traditionally been a strength for the Hawkeyes, but Iowa ranks 171st in the nation right now at 68.2 percent from the line, including a messy 6-of-16 against Notre Dame.

'That's unexplainable,' Bluder said. 'We're better than that.'

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com