Printy's late surge lifts Hawkeyes

IOWA CITY - Jaime Printy believes in the law of averages.

“I've always been taught that if you miss a shot, the next one's going in,” she said.

That mentality served her well at a critical juncture of last night's game.

Moments after missing a 3-pointer, she hoisted another and drilled it. That sparked a 78-second, seven-point bonanza by Printy that carried Iowa past South Dakota State, 82-69, before 2,440 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“I love her confidence to take that second shot,” said Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder. “I felt very good with her taking that shot.”

Iowa (7-5) was clinging to a 67-66 lead when Printy misfired from long range. The Hawkeyes rebounded, Kachine Alexander found Printy open, and Printy let it fly again.

The freshman from Marion scored on drives to the basket on Iowa's next two possessions, pushing the lead to 74-67.

Iowa finished the game with a 15-3 run and held SDSU (5-6) to one field goal in the final eight minutes.

“We just wanted to win, and Jaime came up with some big shots,” said Iowa's Kelly Krei.

The game was physical, and the Hawks didn't come away unscathed. Kamille Wahlin suffered from a deep thigh bruise. Bluder was extremely concerned in the postgame press conference about Theairra Taylor, who injured her left knee in the first half and did not return.

“(I knew the game would be physical) in the first possession,” Krei said. “It was kind of rough, but we did a nice job handling it.”

Iowa outrebounded the Jackrabbits, 29-13, in the second half. The Hawkeyes collected 21 offensive rebounds, which they converted into 29 second-chance points.

And none were more important than Printy's trey at the 3:00 mark.

Printy followed a career-high 22-point performance Sunday with 18 Tuesday. Wahlin added 17, Krei 12, Morgan Johnson 11.

Jill Young paced SDSU with 16.

The Hawkeyes resume Big Ten play Monday at Penn State.

“As young as we are, I think we're heading in the right direction,” Bluder said.