Iowa-ISU: Keep an eye on the point

IOWA CITY - The past four years, nobody has been better at doing the dishes than these two.

When 24th-ranked Iowa (7-2) hosts Iowa State (5-1) in their annual women's basketball grudge match at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, point-guard brilliance will be on display.

'It will be two of the best in the nation, going at it,” said Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder.

Tipoff is 7 p.m. Thursday.

Iowa's Samantha Logic ranks No. 1 in the country in career assists among active players, with 677. ISU's Nikki Moody is No. 2 with 581.

'You're going to see a lot of fire on the court when those two go at it,” Iowa sophomore Ally Disterhoft said. 'They're both very intense. It's something that will be fun to watch.”

This season, Moody ranks third nationally with 7.8 assists per game. Logic is 16th at 6.1 per contest.

Logic suffered a sprained MCL in her right knee at Louisville last Thursday. She played with a brace in Sunday's win over Colorado.

'She's getting better every day,” Bluder said. 'Will she be 100 percent (for ISU)? I'm not sure. But she is doing great.”

The Iowa-ISU series has been dominated by the home team recently. The host has held serve seven straight years, 12 of the last 13.

'We feel confident in that,” Bluder said. 'We love playing at home. We've got great fans, and we're going to use (the home-court advantage).

'Home court has been important, but it's not the only element.”

Iowa State won last year in Ames, 83-70. The Cyclones broke in front early, and the outcome was never in doubt.

The game was punctuated by a minor dispute at the end. The Hawkeyes pressed the Cyclones' reserves, then ISU Coach Bill Fennelly - visibly upset - reinserted his starters.

'I'd forgotten about it until you brought it up,” Bluder said Tuesday. 'I don't know if Bill has or not.

'I still feel that each coach has the right to coach how they want, to do whatever they think is necessary to win that 40 minutes.”

Also in that game, Logic took a shot that reopened a cut that required eight stitches. She was stitched up without a numbing agent and returned to the game.

'She's as tough as they come,” Fennelly said. 'She's the kind of kid that you love to have on your team and you hate that the other guy has them. I think that's the greatest compliment you can give someone.

'It's one thing to be tough, it's another thing to be tough and good and she's both.”

Thursday's game has the capability of being a high-scoring affair. Both teams are averaging about 81 points per game and are productive from long distance, and both have four players averaging in double figures.

Disterhoft leads the Hawkeyes at 15.1 points per game; Seanna Johnson paces ISU at 14.7.

Iowa's deficiency through the first nine games has come on the boards. The Hawkeyes are being outrebounded by 4.5 boards per game.

'Rebounding is definitely a mindset thing,” said senior post Bethany Doolittle, the Hawkeyes' leading rebounder at 7.3 per game. 'We have to work on that a lot. We need to improve.”

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