Hawkeyes host road-weary Northwestern

IOWA CITY — Jordan Hankins visited the University of Iowa during the recruiting process.

'She was a carefree, light-hearted girl,' Ally Disterhoft recalled. 'What happened is terrible. It's tragic.'

A sophomore at Northwestern, Hankins died Jan. 9; her death was ruled a suicide.

'It was a terrible tragedy for Northwestern,' Iowa women's basketball coach Lisa Bluder said Wednesday.

'I can't imagine how (NU Coach) Joe (McKeown) is doing. I can't imagine going through something like that.'

The game immediately following Hankins' death (Jan. 11 at Minnesota) was postponed to Monday, creating a grueling stretch for the Wildcats (17-8 overall, 6-6 Big Ten), whose game Thursday at Iowa City is their third in six days, all on the road.

Tipoff is 7 p.m. at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

For Iowa (15-10, 6-6), it's the first of three games against teams in its neighborhood, the middle of the Big Ten standings. The Hawkeyes follow with road games against Purdue (15-11, 6-6) and Indiana (17-8, 7-5) Sunday and next Wednesday.

Iowa, which currently carries an RPI of 47, probably needs to win two of those three, take care of Wisconsin (6-19, 1-11) in the regular-season finale, then win at least one game in the Big Ten tournament to seal an NCAA tournament berth.

'Obviously, to win out, that would be a great thing,' Makenzie Meyer said. 'Everybody has a chip on their shoulder for not making it last year. It gives us freshmen motivation, understanding the importance of what's in front of us.'

Meyer is the reigning Big Ten freshman of the week. The Mason City native scored 30 points in two games last week.

'I'm excited about it,' she said. 'I scored 14 points (in an overtime win over Michigan State), but 12 of them were on free throws, so I guess I didn't feel like I played a great game.'

Northwestern has dropped three straight games — all by double digits — but remains extremely dangerous. Nia Coffey averages 19.2 points and 11.0 rebounds per contest, and Ashley Deary is the Big Ten leader in assists (6.5 per game) and steals (3.9).

'They have very talented players, and a lot of experience,' Disterhoft said, 'We know what we're up against, and we know we have to play a great game (Thursday) night.'

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