Hlas: Iowa women’s basketball team wins, entertains

IOWA CITY - This isn't exactly a news bulletin, but Lisa Bluder is getting it done at Iowa.

Bluder has been the Hawkeyes' women's basketball coach for 15 years, and her teams of the last two seasons have been as good as any she's had at Iowa. They may be her best.

We've gotten so conditioned to 20-win seasons and NCAA tournament appearances from Bluder's Hawkeyes. But if you like the sport of basketball, this season's team (13-3 overall, 4-1 in the Big Ten) is recommended viewing.

It doesn't matter if it's middle school, the NBA, or anywhere in between. You can't dislike a team that moves the ball around quickly, passes beautifully, can hurt you from the inside and outside, and racks up more steals and blocked shots than the opposition.

Iowa has the nation's leader in 3-point baskets per game in Melissa Dixon. So what did the 21st-ranked Hawkeyes do to earn an 83-70 win over a very good Northwestern team Wednesday night in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. It kept feeding the ball in the paint to center Bethany Doolittle, who made 13 of 20 shots and had a career-high 29 points.

Many of those baskets came on setups from the school's all-time assists leader, Samantha Logic, who had nine.

'It's an assist-first team,” Doolittle said. 'Sam's really good at that.”

Really, really good. Logic has more career assists (733) than anyone in the nation. The seniors triumvirate of Logic, Doolittle and Dixon combine with sophomore forward Ally Disterhoft and freshman guard Whitney Jennings to give Iowa five scorers and a multitude of other skills.

'Anyone can go off on this team at any day,” Logic said. 'It's really tough for teams to defend how we can have five double-digit scorers.”

'I think our players are such veteran players that they know what's available,” Bluder said. 'They don't try to force something. Instead, they take what is given to them. The defense can't take away everything from you, so they're just really smart at understanding that and being patient with the offense to get that shot.”

In theory, that's all good. Getting talented players with those mindsets is the trick. Iowa's starters come from five different Midwestern states, but play like they've been together since childhood.

'They're selfless,” said Iowa assistant coach Jan Jensen. 'It's so fun. We pass up a good shot for a great shot.

'We don't really have a star philosophy. Our goal would be to have four or five. Every coach will tell you that, but in recruiting that's what we tell kids. So when they come here, it's no surprise. That's what they signed up for.

'It's fun, and they buy into it.”

That's it in a nutshell. It's fun. Eighty points a game is fun. Being 4-1 in the Big Ten is fun.

This is a good team.

Comments: (319) 368-8840; mike.hlas@thegazette.com