Iowa vs. Rutgers: A clash of styles

IOWA CITY - Finesse vs. Physicality?

Is that a fair assessment of the NCAA women's basketball tournament first-round game between Iowa and Rutgers?

"Yeah, I'd say so," said Iowa's Jaime Printy, the Big Ten freshman of the year.

"They're physical, they're athletic and they'll press all the time. We have to be ready to play, focused to play."

Game time is 7:16 p.m. (Iowa time) Saturday at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif.

The Hawkeyes (19-13) landed in California on Thursday. They'll meet the media Friday at 1:20 p.m. (Iowa time), then go through an open practice from 2 to 3.

Many questions undoubtedly will center around Rutgers Coach C. Vivian Stringer, who coached at Iowa between 1983 and 1995, leading the Hawkeyes to six Big Ten titles and a 1993 berth in the Final Four.

"We don't have time to think about that now," Stringer said in a teleconference with Iowa reporters Wednesday. "It's time to play or go home.

"There's going to be a lot of people, they're going to have high emotions one minute, low emotions the next."

The team that has more high emotions will be the team that dictates tempo.

Iowa averages 69.4 points per game while Rutgers (19-14) allows 55.8.

"They're a very good defensive team," said Iowa's Kamille Wahlin. "We're going to see 40 minutes of pressure. We have to handle their press and stop their transition.

"We're going to get bumped here and there. We've got to be strong and mentally tough."

Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder said the Hawkeyes' games at the Big Ten tournament - they beat Penn State and Michigan State, then lost to Ohio State in the final - will have them ready for the Scarlet Knights.

"They're a very physical team, and we've tried to emulate that in practice," Bluder said. "We have to square up strong."

Printy said the Hawkeyes have a couple players that can play the role of enforcer.

"Gabby (Machado) is definitely tough," Printy said. "And Kachine (Alexander), she's all over the place, shutting people down."

Rutgers, meanwhile, will try to slow an Iowa team that averaged 72.1 points in its last 14 games, a stretch that produced 11 wins and put the Hawkeyes in the tournament.

"They have versatility," Stringer said. "They have outstanding shooters that can dribble and kick it out, or they can put it down and take it to the hole as well."