Joens wants Big Ten, picks Illinois

IOWA CITY - The University of Illinois women's basketball team was looking for a shooter.

They looked in a good place.

'When Courtney (Joens) is on, she's as good a perimeter shooter as there is,” Iowa City High Coach Bill McTaggart said Sunday, after Joens orally committed to play with the Fighting Illini.

The junior guard shot 41 percent from 3-point range last season, averaging 14.6 points per game as the Little Hawks compiled a 24-1 record, earned a final No. 1 ranking in Class 5A and advanced to the state semifinals.

Illinois offered Joens in July. She also received interest from DePaul, Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota, and visited Drake and Creighton.

'I wanted to play in the Big Ten,” Joens said. 'I really like the coaches and teammates that were there. I liked the campus.”

McTaggart said the college coaches 'were at every one of our open gyms” recently.

Joens was at Champaign on Sunday, and after she had watched practice, she was sold.

'Practice was very intense,” she said. 'Everyone was diving on the floor. Everybody was cheering.”

With the graduation of Haley Lorenzen (now at the University of Florida) and Kiera Washpun, more will be expected out of Joens this season.

'Her game has gotten better,” McTaggart said. 'She's gotten stronger. She's becoming more consistent with her shot.”

(Ryan Suchomel contributed to this report)

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