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<p class="maintitle"><span class="Fid_10"> Iowa needs a win streak
to return to NCAA </span></p>
<p class="abody"><span style="font-weight:bold;"> By Jeff Linder,</span><span
class="Fid_5"> The Gazette</span><span class="Fid_6"> IOWA CITY
- The math has become clear and simple: The Iowa Hawkeyes must
run the</span><span class="Fid_6"> table now, or later.</span><span
class="Fid_6"> With nine losses in their last 12 games, Iowa
(15-11 overall, 5-9 Big Ten) finds itself backed into a corner.
To make the NCAA women's basketball tournament for the ninth
consecutive year, there are two plau</span><span class="Fid_6">
sible options:</span></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_7"> •</span><span class="Fid_6">
Four straight wins to conclude the regular season would probably</span><span
class="Fid_6"> do it.</span><span class="Fid_6"> 'Maybe I'm
looking through rose-colored glasses, but I still think we have
a chance,' Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder said.</span></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_6"> 'If we compete with the same
intensity we did (in a 78-76 loss at Minnesota on Monday), we
can play with almost anybody in the conference.'</span></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_7"> •</span><span class="Fid_6">
Gain an</span><span class="Fid_6"> automatic bid by winning the
Big Ten tournament.</span></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_6"> This is less likely, because
it would probably entail beating Ohio State and Maryland along
the way.</span></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_6"> At first blush, the way things
are headed, a 4-0 Big Ten conclusion sounds like a stretch.</span></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_6"> But there aren't any
untouchables left, and three of them are at</span><span
class="Fid_6"> Carver-Hawkeye Arena, starting tonight against
Purdue (16-9, 7-7). Tipoff is 7 p.m.</span></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_6"> 'They shot the lights out last
time (in a 90-73 Purdue win Jan. 24),' Bluder said. 'Our defense
just has to be better.' Like Iowa, the Boilermakers are
skidding. They've lost four straight games and seven of their
last nine after a 5-0 Big Ten start.</span></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_6"> Iowa finishes the regular
season with a home game against Indiana on Sunday, then a road
battle with Penn State and a home test with Illinois next week.</span></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_6"> 'We're due to beat these
teams,' Ally Disterhoft said. 'We believe</span><span
class="Fid_6"> we're better than we've shown. We're better than
some of the teams we've lost to. It just comes down to execution
down the stretch.' Freshmen Megan Gustafson and Tania Davis have
continued to grow. Gustafson has earned double-doubles in four
of her last five games.</span></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_6"> 'My main goal is to contribute
and to win,' she said. 'I want to give the team as many
second-chance opportunities as possible.' Davis earned the
defensive assignments on Ohio State's Kelsey Mitchell and
Minnesota's Rachel Banham in the last week.</span></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_6"> 'That's asking a lot of a
freshman,' Bluder said. 'Tania doesn't back down from any
challenge I give her.' Expect to see Davis shadowing Purdue's
April Wilson tonight. A 5-foot-7 guard, Wilson leads the
Boilermakers at 14.6 points and 5.9 as</span><span class="Fid_6">sists
per game.</span></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_7"> •</span><span class="Fid_8">
Comments: (319) 368-8857; <a
href="mailto:jeff.linder@thegazette.com"><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:jeff.linder@thegazette.com">jeff.linder@thegazette.com</a></a></span></p>
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