Hawkeyes shoot for a Breslin sweep

IOWA CITY — The men tamed the Breslin Center on Thursday. Now, the women take their shot.

Iowa concludes a five-game, 13-day whirlwind Saturday at a venue in which wins have been tough to come by, last year's victory notwithstanding.

'It's a tough place to play,' Hawkeyes Coach Lisa Bluder said Friday. 'It will be a competitive game against a very aggressive, physical team.'

Tipoff is 3:30 p.m. (Iowa time) in a game televised by the Big Ten Network.

The Hawkeyes had dropped seven straight games at East Lansing before breaking through, 52-50, last season.

That provides some comfort. So does the fact that the Iowa men took down the Spartans on Thursday.

It's a pivotal game between two teams trying to escape the traffic jam in the middle of the Big Ten race. Nine teams are sitting 3-2 or 2-3 in conference play — both Iowa (13-4 overall) and Michigan State (12-4) are 3-2.

Iowa escaped a late rally by Wisconsin on Wednesday, 57-54. The Hawkeyes led by 16 points entering the fourth quarter, then held on.

'Those things start to enter your mind after it's happened once,' Bluder said, referring to Iowa's loss to Michigan on Jan. 7, in which it held a 17-point lead in the third quarter. 'It's something that comes into a young player's mind. We just have to finish on both ends of the floor. Mentally, it's something we have to overcome.'

So is the Spartans' physical nature.

'They're aggressive,' Bluder said. 'They'll bump you every time they can. They'll grab you. That's kind of their reputation defensively, and it holds true.'

Michigan State is coming off a puzzling 81-65 loss at Indiana on Wednesday. Leading scorer Aerial Powers shot 4-for-22.

Powers is averaging 18.5 points per game, Tori Jankoska 16.8.

Iowa junior Ally Disterhoft needs three points to climb into the top 20 on the school's all-time scoring chart. Disterhoft has 1,262 career points and is averaging 16.8 per game this season.

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com