Healing Disterhoft ‘ready to lead’

NORTH LIBERTY - Ally Disterhoft was out of her element at the Game Time League on Wednesday.

Instead of a ponytail, a basketball uniform and sneakers, she was in professional attire.

'Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I'm rocking the business-casual look,” she said, noting her summer internship with Frank Magid Associates in Marion, where she works as a statistician and data analyst.

Disterhoft's return to basketball after wrist surgery has been 'a slow process,” she said.

'I'm still not doing much for long periods of time,” she said. '(Tuesday), I shot some 3-pointers in practice for the first time.”

A former Miss Iowa Basketball at Iowa City West, Disterhoft averaged 15 points per game last season as a sophomore, and the Iowa Hawkeyes (26-8) reached the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1996. She did it despite constant pain in her right (shooting) wrist.

'I'd get injections, and I figured it was normal wear and tear,” she said.

On Feb. 24, the tendon in her wrist ruptured.

She played that way the rest of the season, including an 18-point performance in the first round of the NCAA tournament against American University. But she was 1-of-8 and scored just three points in a loss to Baylor in the regional semifinals at Oklahoma City.

'It hurt, but it's not an excuse,” Disterhoft said. 'You've just got to go out there and suck it up and play.”

Disterhoft underwent surgery in the first week of April. A tendon from her inside of her wrist was moved to the outside of her wrist.

She has gone from a hard brace to a soft one. Her handshake is firm, and she hopes to be 100 percent by August.

A second-team all-Big Ten selection last season, Disterhoft has scored 977 career points and will be relied on heavily to lead the Hawkeyes in the absence of starters Samantha Logic, Melissa Dixon and Bethany Doolittle.

'I'm ready to step into a leadership role,” she said. 'We've got some talent coming in, and we've got some returners who are ready to step up.

'We have a lot of people that have a lot to prove.”

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