Davis gets first start; Iowa tops Bradley

IOWA CITY — The way Lisa Bluder saw it, the sparkplug needed a spark.

'I just felt Whitney (Jennings) hadn't been playing to her potential,' Bluder said, referring to her decision to start freshman Tania Davis in her place at point guard Saturday. 'I thought I'd press a button to get her to be the player she is.'

Results were mixed.

The 24th-ranked Hawkeyes built an 18-point lead, then held off Bradley, 60-53, in a non-conference women's basketball game in front of 4,051 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Jennings, a sophomore, had started her last 37 games — 27 to conclude last season, 10 to begin this season. But Davis got the nod Saturday.

'Consistency is the biggest thing,' Jennings said. 'It was evident that something needed to change.'

Jennings came off the bench to score eight points and grab four rebounds in 24 minutes. Davis posted three points, four rebounds and five assists against four turnovers in 23 minutes.

'I wanted to help us turn down good shots for great shots,' Davis said. 'I learned about (the promotion) in practice. I think I took it and ran with it.'

The Hawkeyes (9-2) won their 23rd consecutive game at Carver, but it wasn't a gem. Iowa shot 35.5 percent from the floor, hitting 22 of 62 shots.

'Obviously, I'm happy with the win,' Bluder said. 'I'm very happy with our defense. But we have to score better. We've got to play a 40-minute game.'

Ally Disterhoft led the Hawkeyes with 16 points, and the Hawkeyes led the whole way. Alexa Kastanek tacked on 11 points.

Jennings hit a 3-pointer shortly after entering the game, sparking a 7-0 run for a 14-4 lead. It was 17-7 after a quarter, 29-21 at intermission.

Davis' lone basket gave the Hawkeyes their largest advantage at 44-26.

The margin was still 13 with 2 minutes remaining before Bradley's Anneke Schlueter heated up. She swished three straight 3-pointers as the Braves (4-5) got within 57-51 with a minute to go. Tamya Sims' basket cut the margin to four with 15 seconds left before Disterhoft and Kastanek closed it out with three free throws.

Disterhoft, a junior from Iowa City West, climbed into the top 25 in Iowa career scoring with 1,164 points.

Iowa concludes its pre-Big Ten slate Tuesday with a home game against Drake. The Bulldogs (7-3) suffered their third loss in their last four games, 87-73, Saturday at Northern Illinois.

IOWA 60, BRADLEY 53

At Iowa City

BRADLEY (53): Danielle Brewer 3-7 0-0 7, Tamya Sims 3-10 3-6 9, Kat Yelle 0-0 0-0 0, Leti Lerma 2-11 3-3 7, Anneke Schlueter 4-15 2-3 13, Gabby Green 1-3 0-1 2, Shareece Burrell 4-5 1-2 9, Haley Van Cleave 0-1 0-0 0, Sameia Kendall 0-0 0-0 0, Whitney Tinjum 3-6 0-0 6, Vanessa Markert 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-58 9-15 53.

IOWA (60): Chase Coley 4-10 0-0 8, Alexa Kastanek 4-13 2-2 11, Ally Disterhoft 4-7 6-9 16, Tania Davis 1-8 1-2 3, Kali Peschel 1-3 0-0 3, Claire Till 0-1 0-0 0, Megan Gustafson 2-3 0-0 4, Whitney Jennings 3-9 0-0 8, Christina Buttenham 3-8 0-0 7. Totals 22-62 9-13 60.

Halftime: Iowa 29, Bradley 21. 3-point goals: Bradley 4-16 (Brewer 1-1, Sims 0-1, Lerma 0-1, Schlueter 3-10, Van Cleave 0-1, Tinjum 0-2), Iowa 7-27 (Kastanek 1-7, Disterhoft 2-3, Davis 0-4, Peschel 1-2, Jennings 2-5, Buttenham 1-6). Team fouls: Bradley 20, Iowa 14. Fouled out: Yelle. Rebounds: Bradley 40 (Brewer 7), Iowa 45 (Gustafson 7). Assists: Bradley 4 (Brewer, Yelle 2), Iowa 16 (Davis 5). Steals: Bradley 7 (Schlueter, Burrell 2), Iowa 9 (Davis, Peschel 3). Turnovers: Bradley 18, Iowa 15.

Attendance: 4,051.

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