Deep run should mean redshirt for Taylor

STANFORD, Calif. - Saturday's victory over Rutgers gave the Iowa Hawkeyes another game.

And it most likely gave Theairra Taylor another season.

The Hawkeyes (20-13) play their 34th game of the season when they face second-ranked Stanford (32-1) in a second-round NCAA women's basketball tournament game Monday at Maples Pavilion.

Taylor, an athletic freshman, played in 10 games before tearing the ACL in her right knee.

The NCAA mandates that a player compete in less than 30 percent of games to receive a medical hardship.

With the 34th game, Taylor falls securely beneath the 30-percent barrier.

"I'm pretty excited," she said. "I knew I was going to get it."

Taylor was one of three Hawkeyes - JoAnn Hamlin and Hannah Draxten were the others - sporting gold T-shirts at Iowa's game against Rutgers. On the back, the shirts read, "I'm Gonna Redshirt This Season."

When fortunes were going sour for the Hawkeyes, Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder used Taylor's plight as motivation.

"I said, ‘Listen, we need to get to 32, 33, 34 games to get Theairra her year back,' " Bluder said. "I was using anything I could to motivate the team."

Taylor started eight games and averaged 8.1 points per game before the injury.

Rehab is going well.

"I'm doing ladders, walking up and down stairs, squatting and lunging," she said.

Taylor tore the ACL in her left knee as a senior in high school.

"It's 100 percent now," she said. "Hard to believe, it's going to end up being my dominant leg."

Draxten played four games before shutting it down because of a herniated disc in her back. Hamlin is holding out hope for an unlikely sixth season after missing the entire year with a blood clot in her leg.

Touring the town

The Hawkeyes bused 40 miles to San Francisco after Sunday's practice.

They planned to drive over the Golden Gate Bridge, walk along Fisherman's Wharf and find a restaurant for supper.

"I'm going to be the interviewer along the ride," said Kachine Alexander. "I don't know if I can handle it. I'm a pretty shy person, you know."

It's Oh-GWOOM-i-ke

Stanford's Nnemkadi Ogwumike has scored more than 1,000 points. And she's only a sophomore.

Here's how you say it (according to the Stanford press guide): Nem-KA-dee Oh-GWOOM-i-ke."

We just call her ‘No Name' in practice," said Iowa's Morgan Johnson.

Ogwumike leads the Cardinal at 18.3 points per game.