Alexis Sevillian makes splash at Game Time League

NORTH LIBERTY — The Iowa women's basketball team will have an extra dose of Michigan flavor this season with the addition of guard Alexis Sevillian.

Sevillian, a 5-foot-6 guard from Goodrich High School in Goodrich, Mich. — the same high school as fellow Hawkeye guard Tania Davis — committed to the Hawkeyes as a junior and showcased an ability to slash to the basket in Wednesday night's Game Time League action.

She tallied 28 points, along with six rebounds and five assists, while playing point guard for the McCurry's/Vinton Merchants team.

Her older sister, Keke, will be a senior at Penn State, but the younger Sevillian said Davis, her teammate for several state tournament runs in Michigan, was not a major factor in her choosing Iowa.

In fact, Davis said it worked the other way around.

'Actually she committed before I did,' Davis said. 'I didn't have anything to do with her recruitment process.'

Sevillian figures to slot in at point guard for the Hawkeyes, who saw Whitney Jennings transfer after last season. She visited Iowa twice and liked the family-oriented team atmosphere.

Davis and McCurry's/Vinton and Iowa teammate Hannah Stewart both listed off several skill sets in terms of the impact her two-time teammate can make.

Sevillian is quick with the dribble and made acrobatic layups, to the delight of the crowd at the North Liberty Recreation Center on several occasions on Wednesday. She hit a buzzer-beater to give her team a victory, as well.

To play against other Hawkeyes has been a benefit this summer, she said.

'It feels good to be back playing again after not playing since high school season,' she said. 'Obviously we wish were all playing together.'

The Game Time League plays more like pick-up basketball than a Big Ten game, but the opportunities to improve, especially playing against teammates, exist within the league. Along with practice with the other Iowa women's basketball players, Sevillian said the leauge has given her an opportunity to hone her game.

Stewart, a sophomore center and teammate of Sevillian's on the McCurry's/Vinton Merchants team, said she's been impressed with the freshman so far this summer.

'These freshmen this year don't play like freshmen,' Stewart said.

As for the impact she thinks she can make, Sevillian said she'll do what she needs to do.

'Defensively, getting stops and changing the whole defensive perspective around,' she said. 'And getting the ball to my teammates.'