Megan Gustafson's offseason work paying dividends early for Iowa

IOWA CITY — Sophomore center Megan Gustafson finished her freshman season with double-doubles in nine of the Hawkeyes' last 13 games. On paper, it looked extremely promising for the 6-foot-3 Wisconsin native.

Through two games in the 2016-17 campaign, Gustafson has backed up those expectations and then some. Gustafson opened the season with 25 points and 12 rebounds against Oral Roberts on Friday, and backed that up with her 11th double-double in 15 games with 14 points and 11 rebounds in Iowa's 84-51 win against Hampton on Sunday.

Coach Lisa Bluder and Co. are going to need Gustafson this year, and if the first pair of games are any indication, they're going to be able to count on it. It sure wouldn't hurt anything, to be sure.

'Megan had an amazing freshman year. We all know that. And she's just gotten better,' Bluder said. 'So we've been able to see that over the course of the summer. So we expected great things out of Megan. Certainly, she started the season that way.

'I don't want to put pressure on her that she has to keep doing these kinds of things, but it would be nice if she would.'

Gustafson said Friday the offseason was dedicated to working on strength and footwork, and both those things were on display for Iowa (2-0) Sunday against Hampton (0-2). Where she might've been predictable last year, she wasn't so on Friday, she said.

She worked from the post with a variety of moves and while she wasn't as dominant scoring-wise as the opener, she didn't need to be. Iowa City West grad Ally Disterhoft once again led the Hawkeyes in scoring with 16, but point guard Tania Davis also added 15, and Hannah Stewart finished with 10.

Gustafson will no doubt face better competition as the season wears on, but she liked the work she got in Sunday. Being able to clearly see improvement, even this early, just adds to the encouragement with which she finished her freshman year.

'I think today we played against a couple of pretty good post players, a little bit stronger than what we played against on Friday. I think, yeah, working on the offseason, getting in the weight room (helped),' Gustafson said. 'Coach is working with me and the other post players on my footwork. Just being able to read instead of predetermining post moves, that's been a huge thing for me from freshman year to now. So I think I've really been trying to work on that.'

Iowa got 32 of its 84 points from its bench, with Stewart leading that charge. But the Hawkeyes also got seven points and 10 rebounds from Chase Coley.

Bluder ran her team with the five in, five out platoon style she did in the opener. She's still not sure if that will remain the plan going forward, but there's no doubt she liked how it worked out to start the season.

The Hawkeyes don't have a ton of time to think it over, either, as they take a mandatory day off Monday, then go on the road to North Dakota for a game Wednesday.

'I thought another well-rounded game by our team today,' Bluder said. 'I love the depth of this basketball team. I think we're really showcasing that right now.'

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com