Hoops Hawkeye Tania Davis provided a spark off bench in Iowa’s first action of the season.
By Adam Hensley
Tania Davis stands at 5-4.
On Sunday afternoon in Iowa’s 62-56 win against Tennessee-Martin, she stood much taller after an impressive performance.
In the freshman’s second game of her college career, she collected 12 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals.
“I thought Davis gave us a great spark, in the first quarter especially, when we were struggling to get something to happen,” head coach Lisa Bluder said. “She came in and provided offense and defense for us, and I just admire that spark off the bench. I thought she did a great job.”
As Bluder said, the Hawkeyes offensive attack got off to a slow start.
Iowa fell into a 10-0 hole with just under six minutes left in the first quarter. Davis gave Iowa its first field goals of the game when she drained back-to-back 3s.
Questions remained on who would be the go-to 3-point shooter for the Hawks.
“You have kind of an idea,” Bluder said. “But game-to-game, you don’t know. I have so much faith in all of them, it doesn’t matter.”
The shooting will vary over the course of the season, but on Sunday, Davis had the hot hand.
She scored 4 more points in the second quarter on lay-ups, with her second shot tying the score at 23.
At half, she had 10 of Iowa’s 26 points and was the main reason the Hawks were tied at the break.
“Coming in, I was just looking to play my role: do my defensive job, move the ball on offense, and take the shot when it was open,” Davis said. “Luckily my shots fell in, and my defense followed.”
In the second half, Davis scored only 2 points. However, her presence resonated with the team.
She dished out 4 assists in the final two quarters.
One of those, a no-look pass to Alexa Kastanek for 3, was the favorite of Davis’ many plays, Bluder said.
In the following sequence, Davis forced Martin’s Katie Schubert out of bounds with lockdown defense.
Even with her small stature, Davis was tied for a team high in rebounding.
“I can board and push the ball, and that’s what we are looking for,” Davis said. “I’m not usually a crasher, but I found my way to the ball, and the 6 rebounds show it.”
Over the course of the game, Bluder played Davis for 29 minutes, second highest on the team. This was a significant increase from 17 on Nov. 13.
Bluder said that going into this game the amount of playing time for Davis was not planned. She just rode the hot streak of the guard.
“We never have any predetermined idea of minutes played for anybody, so you just kind of see what happens and adjust as the game goes on,” Bluder said.
Davis’ shooting rhythm on Sunday improved from her game against North Dakota. On Nov. 13, Davis hit one of her eight shots and was 0-of-2 from 3 land. Sunday, she was 5-of-9 from the field, hitting two of her five 3s.
Going into Thursday’s game against Western Illinois, fans should look for Davis to provide scoring, passing, and defense off the bench.
Follow @A_Hens83 on Twitter for Iowa women’s basketball news, updates, and analysis.
