Hawkeyes piling up the points, and the wins

IOWA CITY - A scoring spree has sprung a winning streak.

The Iowa Hawkeyes have scored 70 points or more in the last eight games, a stretch that has netted seven victories, an ascent in the Big Ten Conference and visions of an NCAA tournament berth.

“I think a light bulb just went on with us offensively,” Coach Lisa Bluder said. “The way we got shots, the way we've started to run. I think there's more comfort in the way they play together.

“We're attacking with purpose instead of going through the motions.”

The last time Iowa scored 70-plus in eight straight games was the 2000-01 season.

Expect a high-scoring affair Sunday when Iowa travels to Northwestern. Iowa (15-11 overall, 8-7 Big Ten) is second in the league in scoring, at 68.3 points per game. But the Hawkeyes are 10th in scoring defense. Northwestern (15-11, 6-9) is 11th.

The Hawkeyes won the first encounter with the Wildcats, 78-69, Jan. 24 and have dropped NU 17 straight times.

“They've won a lot of games on their home floor,” Bluder said of the Wildcats. “We can't go in there and assume it's a ‘W'.”

Iowa has climbed into a fourth-place tie in the Big Ten and would be a No. 4 seed if the conference tournament began today.

The Hawkeyes are coming off a record-setting win over Minnesota on Thursday. Morgan Johnson broke both the school and Carver-Hawkeye Arena record for blocks in a game with eight. Iowa broke the school single-game record for team blocks with 13.