Iowa's Kathleen Doyle is ‘very questionable’ for Northern Illinois

IOWA CITY — Kathleen Doyle entered Carver-Hawkeye Arena on crutches Monday morning, a fuzzy sock on her left foot.

The sophomore guard was listed as 'very questionable' for Wednesday's game against Northern Illinois by Iowa women's basketball coach Lisa Bluder during Monday's press conference.

'The toughest part is her ball handling, her passing, her leadership,' Bluder said. 'She just has a determination about her.'

Doyle suffered a sprained ankle late in the Hawkeyes' overtime win over Western Kentucky in the championship game of the Hawkeye Challenge on Saturday.

Assuming she can't go Wednesday, it opens the possibility (if not the likelihood) that former high-school teammates Tania Davis and Alexis Sevillian will be the starting backcourt.

'We've got that great chemistry,' said Sevillian, a redshirt freshman. 'We played AAU and high-school ball together or years,' and we're best friends off the court.'

Davis and Sevillian led Goodrich (Mich.) to a state championship in 2013 and a semifinal appearance in 2015.

Both have been instrumental in Iowa's 2-0 start. Davis averaged 15.0 points per game last weekend, Sevillian 11.0.

Davis is coming off a torn ACL last February.

'It's safe to say that if we didn't have Tania back, we wouldn't be sitting here at 2-0,' Bluder said. 'It's not just a matter of physically coming back, it's a matter of mentally coming back. The hustle plays, the diving on the floor.'

GUSTAFSON HONORED

Junior Megan Gustafson was honored as the Big Ten player of the week after a monster weekend.

The 6-foot-3 post accumulated 51 points and 32 rebounds in the two wins.

'I know they were depending on me a lot, my teammates and coaches,' Gustafson said. 'I really like to work with pressure.

Bluder was asked if that kind of production will become an expectation.

'I hope it doesn't have to,' she said. 'If you put things in front of Megan, she's going to go get it. I'm not going to say she can't do something. because she'll go out and prove me wrong.'

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