Shoni vs. Sam for the Sweet Sixteen

IOWA CITY -- It won't be the whole show.

But Shoni-vs.-Sam will be an entertaining sideshow in Tuesday's NCAA women's basketball second-round encounter between 25th-ranked Iowa and No. 4 Louisville.

Two of the best guards in the nation will be on display when Louisville's Shoni Schimmel and Iowa's Samantha Logic take the floor at 8:30 p.m. At stake: A spot in the Sweet Sixteen.

"It's exciting. I'm looking forward to it," Logic said Monday. "She's a great player. She leads her team really well."

Logic, who posted 11 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists in a first-round triumph over Marist, is a pass-first distributor. A quarterback.

A coach, according to Louisville Coach Jeff Walz.

"(Logic) is just a heady basketball player," Walz said. "She understands the game. I'm impressed during timeouts and at the free throw line, she's constantly coaching. She's out there getting everyone involved.

"I was really impressed with her."

With 619 career assists, Logic already is Iowa's all-time leader with a season to go. This season, she is averaging 13.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 7.6 assists per game, and her distribution skill is the reason that all five starters average more than 10 points per game.

Logic was a unanimous first-team all-Big Ten player as voted by the coaches.

Schimmel, meanwhile, is a pure scorer. She averages 16.8 points per game this season and has scored 2,098 points throughout her career.

"She has a little different role than I do," Logic said. "But her energy ... she gets the team excited. She loves playing. You can tell just by watching her."

Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder said, "Schimmel is physical and strong. It will be a great matchup. They emulate each other quite a bit."

A potential first-team All-American, Schimmel is a senior. Her junior sister, Jude Schimmel, adds 5.5 points per game. She does it with less flair than her more famous sister.

"Shoni's game is more flashy," Walz said. "She's going to make some plays that you normally don't expect people to make. Jude, she just gets it done. She's not the flashy type of ball player. But at the end of the day, when you look at her stat line, you're like, 'Hey, that's a solid ball game.' "

The sideshow will be worth a watch. But the big picture is the big thing for Logic.

It always is.

"The Sweet Sixteen is the prize right now," she said. "We just want to keep playing."