Iowa women soar past Bradley in home opener

IOWA CITY - It was balanced, and it was emphatic.

The No. 22 Iowa women's basketball team blasted Bradley in every phase Tuesday in a 91-53 home-opening win at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes (3-0) outscored the Braves (1-1) by 20 in the first half and by 18 in the second. Iowa shot 46 percent from the floor and 53.8 percent in the second half.

“I think this was a really good home opener for us,” Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder said. “We talked about we really wanted to establish ourselves on our home court. That was kind of our point of focus today.

“I thought we did a really good job of that. I thought we came out rather early and took it away pretty quickly and maintained that throughout the second half.”

The Hawkeyes forced 25 turnovers, and kept theirs to nine. Iowa dished 22 assists, grabbed 17 steals and out-rebounded the Braves by eight. In perhaps the most glaring statistic, Iowa outscored Bradley 35-4 in points off turnovers.

“I thought our player defense was really good,” Bluder said. “We got out in the passing lane and disrupted their flow of offense I thought very well. I think they got frustrated because they couldn't pass the ball where they wanted to pass it.

“I thought our communication was good on the floor. We did a good job on switches not to let them have that easy pass.”

Iowa had five players in double figures, led by Jaime Printy's 21 points. Kachine Alexander had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Kamille Wahlin added 17.

Bradley forward MacKenzie Westcott, a former Class 3A all-stater at Williamsburg, grabbed 10 rebounds, dished two assists and had one point for the Braves. Westcott competed against some of the players in the summer Game Time League in North Liberty.

“It's a great opportunity to player here at Carver-Hawkeye,” Westcott said. “One of the things coach is always pointing out on is being an effort thing, and I need to work on is getting rebounds. That's something you can always control.”

Iowa next plays Northeastern in the KCRG-TV9 Hawkeye Challenge at noon Saturday. Bluder said she wanted to play the tournament last weekend but a scheduling conflict with volleyball forced it to compete against Iowa football.

“We do not want to be playing when there is a football game, absolutely not,” Bluder said. “But I think we've done the best thing possible that is we're letting people in free. I've even heard of hints of free hot chocolate on the concourse.

“So whatever it takes to get the tailgaters in here and warm them up and get them ready for a good Hawkeye victory over Ohio State. But maybe it's an opportunity too to expose our product to some different fans who normally don't see a women's basketball game.”