THE SETTING
The Iowa Hawkeyes (19-9, 12-5) hit the road for their regular-season finale Sunday at Northwestern (7-21, 3-14). Tip-off is slated for 2:05 p.m. in Welsh-Ryan Arena at Evanston, IL. Iowa has won 11 of its last 13 games, while Northwestern has lost 11 of its last 13. Iowa has won five straight, which ties Purdue for the longest active winning streak in the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes enter Sunday’s game tied with Michigan State for third place in the Big Ten standings.
FIRST-DIVISION FINISH
Iowa has recorded another first-division finish in the Big Ten standings. Bluder’s Hawkeyes have finished in the upper half of the Big Ten Conference six times in her nine years as head coach. The Hawkeyes are one win from notching their 20th of the season. Bluder has mentored Iowa to three 20-win seasons during her tenure.
SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN
Northwestern will be playing in its third game in seven days Sunday, after beating Minnesota (62-53) at home last Monday and losing at Penn State (65-50) last Thursday. Sunday will be Northwestern’s “Senior Day”. They will recognize a four-member senior class. Penn State out-scored Northwestern 46-28 in the second half en route to a 65-50 win in University Park, PA, Thursday night. In the loss, Amy Jaeschke scored a team-high 18 points and secured a team-high seven rebounds. Kristin Cartwright added 15 points, but had eight turnovers. The Lady Lions forced 28 Northwestern turnovers and converted the Wildcat miscues into 24 points. Six of Northwestern’s 21 setbacks have come by six points or less and the Wildcats have lost two games in overtime. Northwestern is 7-8 in home games, including 3-5 in home league contests. Jaeschke averages a team-best 13.9 points, 8.4 rebounds and 3.3 blocks per contest. Kristin Cartwright, the daughter of former Chicago Bulls star Bill Cartwright, averages 10.2 points. Eckhart averages a team-best 3.3 assists. Northwestern ranks second in Big Ten blocks (4.68) and sixth in rebounds allowed (34.4). The Wildcats get out-scored by 7.0 points, on average, in the second half. Joe McKeown is the newest Big Ten head coach. McKeown is in his first season on the Wildcat sidelines after coaching at George Washington. He is in his 23rd season as a head coach (516-195, .726).
ALL-TIME SERIES
Sunday will be the 54th meeting between Iowa and Northwestern, with the Hawkeyes leading the series 41-12. Iowa boasts a 19-5 advantage in games played at Evanston. The Hawkeyes have won 15 straight in the series (all during Bluder’s tenure), including seven-consecutive at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Iowa boasts a 19.8-point margin of victory average during the winning streak, including a 21.6 point margin of victory in contests played at Evanston. The Wildcats’ last win over Iowa came at the 2000 Big Ten Tournament (53-52) in Indianapolis.
IOWA, NORTHWESTERN NOTES
• Kachine Alexander will celebrate her 20th birthday Saturday (Feb. 28).
• Iowa’s Lisa Bluder and Northwestern’s Joe McKeown have combined for 1,039 victories and 48 years as a head coach. Bluder has won 523 games in 25 years, while McKeown has won 516 in 23 seasons.
• Last year, Iowa went 13-5 in Big Ten play to win a share of the regular season title with Ohio State. The Hawkeyes are on pace to finish with the same league record this season, 13-5.
• Iowa boasts a perfect 11-0 record when allowing 59 points or less, are 15-2 when shooting a higher field goal percentage than its opponents and 16-1 when leading at halftime this season.
• Kachine Alexander, who stands 5-9, leads the Big Ten in rebounding, pulling down 9.7 per contest in 17 league games. Also, Alexander has attempted the most free throws of any Big Ten athlete (153) in 28 overall games. The 153 free-throw attempts are 16 from the school single-game record.
• Iowa’s senior trio of Kristi Smith (1,402), Megan Skouby (1,397) and Wendy Ausdemore (1,286) is the first-ever senior class of three players in Big Ten history to each have eclipsed 1,250 points.
• Iowa had five players score in double figures in the previous meeting between Iowa and Northwestern on Jan. 18 in Iowa City. JoAnn Hamlin led all scorers with 16 points. Hannah Draxten contributed 13 points, followed by Kristi Smith (11), Megan Skouby (10) and Kachine Alexander (10). Alexander also pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds. Iowa assisted on 25 of its 29 field goals en route to victory. Brittany Orban tallied 13 points and Kristin Cartwright netted 12 points to lead the Wildcats.
• Kristi Smith, Megan Skouby, Wendy Ausdemore and Kristi Smith have had solid outings in multiple games against Northwestern during their careers. Skouby averages 17.7 points, including 24-26 (.923) from the foul line, and 5.0 rebounds. Kristi Smith averages 9.5 points, including 8-16 (.500) from distance, and 3.3 assists. Ausdemore averages 10.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists.
• Kristi Smith has reached double figures a team-best 21 times this year, including 13 of the last 14 contests. Also, Smith has made 23-straight free throws, dating back to the Indiana game (Feb. 5).
• Kristi Smith’s 58 triples this season are a single-season best for the senior and rank second-best in school history for an Iowa senior.
• Kristi Smith’s two assists at Michigan moved her past Johanna Solverson and into third place in Iowa all-time assists (493). She is only one dime from reaching 400.
• Iowa players have corralled double-digit rebounds 21 times this season. Kachine Alexander has accomplished the feat a team-best 12 times, JoAnn Hamlin six times, Wendy Ausdemore three times and Megan Skouby once. The last time an Iowa player controlled double-digit rebounds 12 times or more in a season was Jerica Watson (12), during the 2001-02 season.
• Iowa has an RPI rating of 32nd in the country and strength of schedule of 37th. Iowa has four wins over teams in the RPI top-50, including two ranked in the top 25. Iowa’s lowest RPI-ranked loss this year came at Kansas (59) in its second game of the year. Northwestern is rated 230th in the RPI and 73rd in strength of schedule. The numbers are based on the report published Feb. 27.
IOWA DROPS ILLINOIS ON SENIOR NIGHT
Iowa and its five-member senior class beat Illinois, 69-56, Thursday night on the Hawkeyes’ “Senior Night” in Iowa City. Although it was “Senior Night”, it was a trio of underclassmen that helped the Black and Gold to their 11th victory in their last 13 games. Sophomore Kachine Alexander posted her team-leading seventh double-double, recording 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Freshman Kamille Wahlin chipped in 13 points, while freshman Hannah Draxten contributed eight points and two assists off the bench. Iowa outscored Illinois, 15-7 at the foul line, shooting 88 percent from the charity stripe. The Fighting Illini were led by Jenna Smith, who poured in a game-high 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
LAST OUTING TIP-INS
• Iowa improves to 44-16 all-time against Illinois after Thursday’s victory. Also, Iowa improves to 23-5 against the Fighting Illini in Iowa City. The Hawkeyes have now won 41 of the last 48 meetings against Illinois, including nine of the last 10.
• Thursday was Iowa’s “Senior Night”. The Hawkeyes paid tribute to five outstanding seniors after the contest: Wendy Ausdemore, Kristi Smith, Lindsey Nyenhuis, Nicole VanderPol and Megan Skouby.
• All 12 players saw action for Iowa, including senior Nicole VanderPol who saw a few seconds late in the game. VanderPol has been sidelined with an injury since the second game of the year.
• Kristi Smith dished out a game-high six assists, to go along with her nine points. Kachine Alexander added five assists. The Hawkeyes improved to 10-0 when she collects five assists or more.
• The Black and Gold posted a season low in turnovers, recording only four miscues. The previous low was eight, at Illinois, earlier this season.
• Iowa out-rebounded Illinois by nine (38-29).
• Iowa, who ranks fifth in the nation in free throw shooting, made 15-17 (.882) from the charity stripe. Illinois also shot well, 7-9 (.778).
• Iowa’s bench outscored Illinois’ reserves, 16-3.
• The Hawkeyes assisted on 18 of its 24 field goals.
MAKING THE FREEBIES
Iowa has done an outstanding job, recently, getting to the free throw line and taking advantage of the free shots. The Hawkeyes attempted an average of 18.1 free throws the last eight games and made 15.1 of those attempts (83.4%). Iowa was 14-16 (.875) vs. Penn State, 21-26 (.808) vs. Indiana, 26-32 (.813) vs. No. 13 Ohio State, 20-24 (.833) vs. Wisconsin, 15-17 (.822) vs. Illinois, 11-14 (.786) at Penn State, 9-11 at Michigan and 5-5 (1.000) at Minnesota. Senior Megan Skouby ranks first in the conference and 29th nationally in free throw accuracy, shooting .849 (79-93). Wendy Ausdemore has missed only five free throw attempts this season (49-54, .907). Kachine Alexander has attempted more free throws than any other Big Ten student-athlete this season (153). The 153 are the most by a Hawkeye since Kristi Faulkner attempted 165 in 33 games during the 2002-03 campaign. The school record for free throw attempts is Amy Herrig’s 169, which she established in 1998-99. As a team, Iowa shoots .796 (406-510) from the charity stripe, ranking fifth in the nation. The Hawkeyes have made more free throws (406) than their opponents have attempted (398). Iowa is on pace to break the Big Ten single-season record for free throw percentage. The record is 78.8 percent (461-585), which was established by the Hawkeyes during the 2006-07 campaign.
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