Despite constant pain, Johnson flourishing for Iowa

IOWA CITY -- She isn't injured. But Morgan Johnson hurts.

"I take it day by day," she said. "Days after games, it's a little rough."

A junior post for the University of Iowa women's basketball team, Johnson has fought through the pain in her knees -- patellar tendonitis, it's termed -- to enjoy the best stretch of her collegiate career.

In the last nine games, the 6-foot-5 Johnson is averaging 17.8 points. That includes a 37-point eruption in a loss to Bradley on Dec. 17 that garnered her Big Ten player-of-the-week honors.

"She's playing at a really good level right now," said Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder. "She's making excellent reads on when to cut back door to get high-percentage shots.

"I just think she's playing at a different level this year, and I think her teammates are doing a better job of finding her this year."

Johnson agrees, on the latter part at least.

"My teammates are doing a great job getting me the ball," she said. "They're hitting me with dishes for easy baskets."

A three-year starter, Johnson averaged 8.7 points per game as a freshman, 10.8 as a sophomore. Her recent tear has her at a 14.9-point clip this season, second on the team to Jaime Printy.

She'll have a stiff challenge in the paint Thursday, when Karisma Penn and Illinois come to town.

Tipoff is 7 p.m. at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Penn, a 6-foot-2 junior, averages 14.3 points and 7.8 rebounds per game for an Illinois squad that has disappointed this season. The Fighting Illini are 6-9 overall, 0-2 in the Big Ten.

"She's a great, strong post," Johnson said. "I've played against her a couple times. It's important to limit her touches. She's so strong.

"She came in (as a freshman), and she was strong to begin with. I came in, not so strong."

Johnson has bulked up somewhat at Iowa, but runs the court extremely well for 6-5 -- bad knees and all.

On several occasions this season, Johnson has hit the deck and stayed there in pain. One such occasion was at Northern Iowa. Another was in Monday's 84-71 loss at Ohio State. Both times, she got up and was effective.

"I was terrified," Johnson said of her tumble at Columbus. "I got caught between a couple girls, and it hurt a lot."

Bluder said, "It looked awkward, and the official kind of gave me the wave right away to come out, and that usually is not a good sign when they do that.  But I was impressed with how fast she came back in that game."

Because the issue isn't a structural one, Johnson can't do any more damage. It's pain, not injury.

"Your heart aches for her when you see her cringe and you see her grabbing her knees, and I can't imagine how bad they must hurt her," Bluder said. "And so if anybody deserves it, she deserves to have this success."

Ironically, Johnson's recent run began in the Virginia Tech game on Nov. 30, a game that began horribly.

Johnson started that game 1-of-13 from the field, missing point-blank shots from all angles.

"That was pretty much the worst (I've ever played), and I'd kind of like to keep it that way," Johnson said after the game. "I went to the locker room at halftime, and the first thing ... my teammates were saying, 'Morgan, you're better than you're showing.' "

Johnson made 7 of 8 shots after halftime and finished with 23 points. She's been in double figures in eight of the last nine games, including the 37 against Bradley and 25 at Ohio State.

The Hawkeyes (9-6, 1-1) led by 15 early at Columbus, but couldn't maintain it.

"We've just got to kick it up a notch," Johnson said. "We see one thing go wrong and we hang our heads a little too long."