Hawkeyes hope to feast in Cancun

IOWA CITY -- They have Trojans on their Thanksgiving menu, not turkey.

The Iowa Hawkeyes begin a three-game Mexican vacation Thursday with a date with Southern Cal (3-2). Tipoff is 7:30 p.m. (Iowa time) in Cancun, Mexico.

It's the first of a three-day, predetermined schedule. Iowa (5-1) faces Boston College (2-2) at 5 p.m. Friday and North Carolina-Wilmington (4-1) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

"It's a great opportunity against some great competition," Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder said after the Hawkeyes scraped past Northern Iowa, 67-60, Sunday. "The thing I like, it's good competition on a neutral court.

"I'm excited about that, and also, we hope to have a little fun and bring the team a little closer together."

One item on the agenda was the opportunity to swim with dolphins.

"No, I've never done that," said junior guard Samantha Logic. "Didn't even know we were doing that until now."

The Big Ten leader in assists at 6.5 per game, Logic has become more of a scoring threat this season. She leads the team in scoring at 15.8 points per game and is shooting a very respectable 46 percent from the floor and a career-best 79 percent from the free-throw line.

Iowa looks like a slight favorite in its first two games, then has a sizable edge in Saturday's game.

USC has lost two straight games, to Oklahoma State and South Carolina. The Trojans were 11-20 last year and are coached by former WNBA star Cynthia Cooper.

BC might be the most formidable foe. The Eagles' losses came against Stanford and BYU. They were 12-19 last season

UNC-Wilmington's lone win has come against Northern Kentucky. Among its conquerors are Elon and Campbell. The Seahawks were 5-26 in 2012-13.