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Iowa women drop 105 on N. Illinois

IOWA CITY — The Iowa women’s basketball team roled to its third victory of the season on Wednesday by taking out Northern Illinois 105-80 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The Hawkeyes jumped out early on the Huskies, dropping 30 points in the first quarter on the way to six Iowa women scoring in the double digits.

Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder said, with the combined 185 points scored in the game, she expects her girls to be a bit worn out in practice.

“That was a track meet out there,” Bluder said. “I think we’re going to have some tired legs tomorrow. Both teams pushed the ball extremely well.”

Megan Gustafson went 8-for-11 from the floor for 22 points to pace the Hawkeyes, while Chase Coley went 8-for-12 with 20 points while Iowa outscored Northern Illinois 52-22 in the paint.

Iowa also led in fast-break points, outscoring NIU in transition 15-5. Coley said she prefers that get-up-and-go style to slower-paced offensive attacks.

“It’s more fun than when someone scores you walk it up and wait to play defense,” she said. “It’s fun to get out and run and push the ball in transition. This team is good at that, so it’s fun. Especially when we can execute on both ends.”

Bluder said her women played the way she wants them to, getting the ball out in transition and working the ball down low to their bigs.

“I’m happy with the way we pushed the ball,” Bluder said. “We got some great looks inside. We shot the ball well. Our post play was stellar today. I thought our post play was as good as I’ve seen it.”

Joining the frontcourt pair in the double-digit-scoring column was Makenzie Meyer with 11, Alexis Sevillian with 15, Tania Davis with 12 and Hannah Stewart with 13 points.

The Huskies actually dominated the early going of the game, running out to a 4-12 midway through the first quarter. Iowa would tie it up at 18 in the first, however, and go on outscore Northern Illinois 12-2 to take a 30-20 lead heading to the second quarter. The Huskies never led again after the first.

NIU was led offensively by Courtney Woods with 20 points, while bench players Gabby Nikitinaite and Janae Poisson each hit the double digits with 11 and 18 points each. The Husky bench actually outscored the Hawkeye bench 35-25, but it was the Iowa starters that did most of the offensive damage.

The Hawkeyes outrebounded Norther Illinois 48-33 and led the Huskies in assists, 29-15. Gustafson and Davis each recorded a double-double, with Gustafson pulling down 11 rebounds and Davis hauling in 10 boards, while Meyer led Iowa in assists with a career-high eight assists.

Next up for the Hawkeyes is yet another home game, as they welcome in Western Michigan for a 2 p.m. tipoff on Sunday.

IOWA 105, N. ILLINOIS 80

At Iowa City

N. ILLINOIS (1-1) — May 3-5 0-0 7, Smith 4-9 0-0 9, Starks 3-6 0-0 6, Voigt 1-10 0-0 3, Woods 8-17 0-0 20, Blackwell 0-1 0-0 0, Woollacott 0-0 0-0 0, Breunig 0-0 0-0 0, Castro 0-0 0-0 0, Hodges 2-4 2-3 6, Nikitinaite 4-14 0-0 11, Orr 0-0 0-0 0, Poisson 7-18 0-0 18. TOTALS 32-84 2-3 80.

IOWA (3-0) — Coley 8-12 4-4 20, Gustafson 8-11 6-6 22, Davis 4-8 2-2 12, Meyer 5-10 0-0 11, Sevillian 6-13 0-0 15, Mohns 3-4 0-0 6, Ollinger 1-4 0-0 2, Stewart 6-7 1-1 13, Valino Ramos 1-1 0-0 2, Sanders 0-0 2-2 2. TOTALS 42-70 15-15 105.

N. Illinois 20 24 18 18 — 80

Iowa 30 24 23 28 — 105

3-Point Goals–N. Illinois 14-38 (May 1-1, Smith 1-2, Voigt 1-6, Woods 4-9, Blackwell 0-1, Hodges 0-1, Nikitinaite 3-7, Poisson 4-11), Iowa 6-18 (Davis 2-3, Meyer 1-3, Sevillian 3-9, Ollinger 0-3). Assists–N. Illinois 15 (Voigt 5), Iowa 29 (Meyer 8). Fouled Out–Smith, Rebounds–N. Illinois 33 (May 8), Iowa 48 (Gustafson 11). Total Fouls–N. Illinois 17, Iowa 7. A–3,504.

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