Hawkeyes open Big Ten with a laugher

IOWA CITY -- This was a laugher, in every sense.

The Iowa Hawkeyes stung Northwestern with a 20-3 run in a 3 1/2-minute first-half blitz and toasted the Wildcats, 86-55,  in a Big Ten women's basketball opener Friday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

A team that had been a mild disappointment in the pre-conference portion of the season, the Hawkeyes (9-5 overall, 1-0 Big Ten) were relaxed -- almost giddy at times -- in producing their most lopsided league victory since a 32-pointer against Northwestern in 2006.

They smiled a lot. Yes, they laughed a little. And they won their Big Ten opener for the first time since 2008-09.

"I've been waiting a while for (a performance like) this," said Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder. "We played a complete game."

Eight days after setting a school record with 14 treys against Mississippi Valley State, the Hawkeyes drained 8 of their first 10 long balls. They finished with 12 long-distance shots in 27 attempts.

Five of them came in the dizzying run that turned a 15-all deadlock into a runaway.

"I think a lot of it was the way we were pushing the ball," said Kamille Wahlin, who -- like Jaime Printy -- connected four times from behind the arc. "We have a lot of weapons, and for a while it felt like we weren't going to miss."

Printy got the pivotal wave going with a 3-pointer, then Kalli Hansen hit from deep to make it 26-15.

After Kendall Hackney drained a trey for Northwestern (10-4, 0-1), it was Dixon, Printy and Dixon again -- all in less than a minute.

Suddenly, Iowa was comfortably in front, 35-18. It was 43-22 at intermission, and the second half was more of the same.

"This means a lot for us," Printy said. "I hope we can take it out on the road with us."

The Hawkeyes face No. 9 Ohio State (14-0, 1-0) Monday at Columbus. They'll head east with good thoughts and happy faces.

Printy led all scorers with 20 points and registered eight of Iowa's 24 assists. Wahlin added 16 points and seven assists, Morgan Johnson posted 14 points and nine rebounds.

And Dixon came off the bench to score 10 points; the reserves tallied 29.

"(Dixon) is a scorer," Bluder said. "She's a weapon."

Karly Roser paced Northwestern with 14 points. Hackney tallied 12.

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IOWA 86, NORTHWESTERN 55

At Iowa City

NORTHWESTERN (55): Kendall Hackney 4-9 2-2 12, Dannielle Diamant 3-10 0-0 6, Morgan Jones 3-15 1-2 8, Allison Mocchi 2-3 0-0 5, Karly Roser 7-13 0-0 14, Alex Cohen 0-1 1-2 1, Meghan McKeown 2-5 0-0 6, Anna Cole 0-1 0-0 0, Inesha Hale 0-0 1-2 1, Tailor Jones 0-6 2-2 2. Totals 21-63 7-10 55.

IOWA (86): Kelly Krei 1-5 0-0 3, Morgan Johnson 6-8 2-4 14, Kamille Wahlin 5-11 2-2 16, Samantha Logic 2-6 0-0 4, Jaime Printy 6-16 4-5 20, Kalli Hansen 1-1 0-0 3, Trisha Nesbitt 0-0 0-0 0, Melissa Dixon 4-8 0-0 10, Theairra Taylor 1-3 3-4 5, Kathryn Reynolds 1-1 0-0 2, Bethany Doolittle 4-9 1-2 9. Totals 31-68 12-17 86.

Halftime: Iowa 43, Northwestern 22. 3-point goals: Northwestern 6-25 (Hackney 2-6, Diamant 0-2, M.Jones 1-8, Mocchi 1-2, Roser 0-2, McKeown 2-5), Iowa 12-27 (Krei 1-4, Wahlin 4-7, Logic 0-1, Printy 4-9, Hansen 1-1, Dixon 2-4, Taylor 0-1). Team fouls: Northwestern 14, Iowa 11. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: Northwestern 35 (Diamant, T.Jones 6), Iowa 45 (Johnson 9). Assists: Northwestern 11 (M.Jones, T.Jones 3), Iowa 24 (Printy 8). Steals: Northwestern 2 (M.Jones, Cole), Iowa 6 (Printy 3). Turnovers: Northwestern 17, Iowa 11.

Attendance: 4,465.

BIG TEN STANDINGS

Conf.

All

Ohio State

1-0

14-0

Nebraska

1-0

12-1

Michigan

1-0

12-2

Purdue

1-0

11-3

Iowa

1-0

9-5

Michigan State

1-0

9-5

Penn State

0-1

10-3

Northwestern

0-1

10-4

Minnesota

0-1

8-7

Illinois

0-1

6-8

Indiana

0-1

5-9

Wisconsin

0-1

4-9

FRIDAY'S RESULTS

Iowa 86, Northwestern 55

Michigan 70, Illinois 50

Michigan State 63, Indiana 49

Nebraska 71, Penn State 63

Ohio State 77, Wisconsin 61

Purdue 57, Minnesota 53