The Iowa women’s basketball team is looking ahead to the upcoming season.
By Mario Williams
ROSEMONT, Illinois — With large expectations ahead of them, Big Ten media day marked the beginning of the 2015-16 season for the Iowa women’s basketball team.
There’s no denying that everything went well for the Iowa women’s basketball team during the 2014-15 season.
The team had the perfect record in Carver-Hawkeye, the Hawkeyes made the Sweet 16, and they went 14-4 in the conference.
And, although they fell to Baylor in the NCAA Tournament, making it to Oklahoma City will be with the players forever.
“That loss was definitely not the defining moment of last year’s season in any way,” junior Ally Disterhoft said. “We got to the Sweet 16, we deserved to be there, we belonged to be there, and that’s all that mattered.”
Returning to the NCAA Tournament is still a goal, Disterhoft said. She said it’s also something the upperclassmen have instilled to the younger athletes as well.
“We try to reiterate to them how important it is to come in and work hard every day,” the Iowa City native said. “Every year, we expect to have a successful season. That’s kind of the expectation.”
Iowa welcomes four newcomers
While the team lost four seniors, three of them starters, the Hawks now welcomes four freshmen who could see some floor time.
One name brought up several times on Thursday was guard Tania Davis.
The Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan named Davis Michigan Miss Basketball last season and she was a five-star recruit who has impressed her teammates and coaches.
Iowa forward Kali Peschel, who averaged 5.1 points last season and had 13 steals, begins her senior campaign as a co-captain. She noted that the game that Davis brings is something the program hasn’t had in a while.
S“She’s come in and is taking it all in,” Peschel said. “She’s been really productive in practices.”
Sophomore Whitney Jennings, who plays guard and is 5-5, as is Davis, will probably be in the mix in the starting five. But Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder said, she has no problem with having both athletes on the court at the same time.
“We play what we call positionless basketball,” Bluder said. “I can have three point guards on the floor at the same time. I can have a point guard and three power forwards on the floor at the same time. We just have the best players. We don’t run sets. We run an offense. It gives us the luxury of just having the best players on the floor regardless of position.”
New rules
A new season brings new rules to the women’s side of the ball.
One rule talked most about at media day was the four-quarter system. This season, games will be played in four 10-minute quarters, a huge difference from the previous 20-minute halves.
The Hawkeyes had the opportunity of playing with this style in Italy in the summer, and they’ve also started practicing with four quarters.
The team isn’t too worried about adjusting.
“I don’t think it’s really an advantage for one team over another,” Bluder said. “It’s the same rules for everybody, and I don’t think it’s going to make a difference.”
