Hawkeye women adjust at halftime, top American in NCAA game one

IOWA CITY — Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder wasn't going to mess with the team's karma before its opening-round NCAA tournament game Friday against 14th-seeded American University.

'Absolutely not,' Bluder said adamantly when asked if she talked to her team about some of the big upsets in the men's tournament Thursday. 'I did not want to bring that up one little bit.'

The third-seeded Hawkeyes were given all they could handle by the Eagles but held off the upset bid, 75-67, with some outstanding second-half shooting and a zone defense that did a better job of locating threats on the perimeter.

Iowa will play 11th-seeded Miami (Fla.) in the second round at 11 a.m. Sunday in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The winner will advance to the Sweet 16 in Oklahoma City next Friday. Miami (20-12) defeated Washington, 86-80, in a physical, up-tempo battle that went back and forth.

Iowa's game was tied at 36 at halftime. Ally Disterhoft scored 12 points to keep Iowa afloat. AU guard Ari Booth went in off the bench to hit 4 of 5 3-pointers, and it was time for some adjustments by Iowa.

'We knew we had to come out more intense than we did,' Disterhoft said.

'I think they hit a couple more threes than we originally probably scouted for,' Iowa's Samantha Logic said. 'We moved on the pass a little bit better.'

Bluder chuckled and admitted she didn't prepare for Booth's onslaught, although the junior shoots 42 percent from behind the arc.

'In the first half Booth really kept them in the game,' Bluder said.

But after halftime, Booth didn't score until there was only 5:36 left. It was her only basket of the second half. She finished with 17 points.

American was led by Jen Dumiak's 23.

'They started pressuring me a little more and getting their hands up as soon as I caught the ball, so I had to either dribble or pass it,' Booth said.

'It was tough getting shots,' point guard Dumiak said. 'They are long, probably longer than most teams we've faced this year.'

With the defense getting some stops, the offense took off.

Melissa Dixon hit two 3s in the first three minutes of the half, but all five starters were contributing and all five ended up in double figures — led by Disterhoft's 18.

Iowa used a 15-6 run to take a 51-42 lead then padded it with another 9-4 spurt.

Iowa shot 54 percent in the second half, including 5 of 7 from 3-point range.

The Hawkeyes shot 56.6 percent from 3-point range.

Senior forward Arron Zimmerman was a force in the second half as Booth struggled. Zimmerman hit 3 of 6 3-pointers and scored 11 of her 17 points in the second half.

'Shooting-wise I probably wouldn't have guarded me at the 3-point line either,' she joked. 'I have not been shooting well.

'But I hit fire and just had confidence in my shot and kept shooting.'

AU had one last run in it and cut a 13-point lead to five with 2:47 left. The Eagles got two good 3-point shots off in successive possessions but couldn't hit them.

'We just wanted to score, really,' Dumiak said. 'Obviously, they didn't fall and they were critical possessions, but that's the way the game goes.'

Finally Whitney Jennings was fouled on a drive and made both foul shots with 39 seconds left to give Iowa some breathing room.

Iowa made six of six foul shots in the final 39 seconds and 16 of 18 overall.