Hawkeyes will look to Johnson inside

SPOKANE, Wash. - Courtney Vandersloot and Kachine Alexander are the stars.

Morgan Johnson might be the key.

The Iowa Hawkeyes will look to their 6-foot-5 sophomore post when they face Gonzaga in their NCAA women's basketball first-round game Saturday at McCarthey Athletic Center.

“We've got to look to get the ball inside,” Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder said. “We need to try to exploit our advantage inside.”

Johnson is 3 inches taller than any of Gonzaga's starters.

“We're going to need to look outside, then inside,” Johnson said. “We need to be on top of our game all the time.”

Johnson averages 10.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. Gonzaga's tallest starter (6-2 Kayla Standish) counters at 16.6 points and 8.7 rebounds per game, but does much of her offensive damage away from the block.

“Their posts are good, athletic kids,” Bluder said. “They'll shoot from 17, 18 feet out.”

Johnson said, “I'll have to pop out and play some good perimeter defense.”

Like the majority of her teammates, Johnson is relishing a perceived underdog role.

“We use it as motivation,” she said. “They've won 18 games in a row, and that's a great feat. Have they been quality wins? I don't know. I guess we'll find out.”

Printy closes in on 1,000

Sophomore guard Jaime Printy needs four points to reach the 1,000-point mark for her career.

Printy scored 501 points as a freshman, and has added 495 points this season to move her career total to 996. She is Iowa's leading scorer this season at 16.5 points per game.

Kachine Alexander (senior) and Kamille Wahlin (junior) have gone past the 1,000-point mark this season. Printy will be the 29th Hawkeye to reach the milestone when it happens.