Hawks try to bounce back against K-State

IOWA CITY -- Another big scorer. Another unbeaten opponent.

Another Challenge.

Brittany Chambers and Kansas State invade Carver-Hawkeye Arena for a Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge women's basketball game Sunday with 18th-ranked Iowa.

Tipoff is 2 p.m.

The Hawkeyes (7-1) are coming off their first loss of the season, a 79-67 defeat at No. 14 North Carolina on Thursday. UNC built a 20-point first-half lead, Iowa got within one, then the Tar Heels pulled away at the end.

"I told the kids, don't hang your heads. We could have walked out of here as whipped puppies, and we didn't," said Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder.

"(But) we lost our composure in the first half, and we paid the price for it."

The Hawkeyes also lost track of Italee Lucas on occasion, and she scored 34 points as a result.

Sunday, they'll have their eyes on Chambers, a 5-foot-8 sophomore guard who is averaging 17.3 points per game.

A team that hangs its hat on shooting, the Hawkeyes have yet to find the mark this season. They shot 34 percent from the field at North Carolina, including 11 of 37 from 3-point range.

The 37 attempts were a school record.

"We need to find a way to shoot better," Bluder said.

This season, Iowa is shooting 39.2 percent from the floor, 27.7 percent from distance. Free throws aren't an issue: Iowa is 80 percent from the line.

Nonetheless, all five starters are averaging in double figures, led by sophomore guard Jamie Printy (15.0 ppg). Printy has missed one of her 27 free throws thus far.

Sunday's game is the middle game of a difficult eight-day stretch. The Hawkeyes host Iowa State on Thursday.

K-State (6-0) has one major win under its belt. The Wildcats defeated No. 20 St. John's, 64-53, on Nov. 13.