Sunday, December 30, 2007

Iowa

Michigan opens the Big 10 season today against Iowa. The Hawkeyes are led by junior guard Kristi Smith (11.7 pts/game), sophomore forward Wendy Ausdemore (11.6 pts/game) and junior center Megan Skouby (9.1 pts/game).

Iowa is coming off a home victory against Penn State on Friday. It will be interesting to see if Michigan's relative long lay off (9 days) will help or if they're rusty...

A preview of the game from hawkcentral:

"Michigan is going to be another good challenge for us," Iowa senior Krista VandeVenter said. "I think (the Penn State) win gives us a lot of confidence."

The Wolverines seem to be playing much better than the team that finished last season 10-20 overall and 3-13 in the Big Ten. Iowa beat Michigan 66-49 in their only meeting a year ago in Iowa City and owns an eight-game winning streak in the series.

"There's no doubt this is a different Michigan," Bluder said. "Michigan struggled scoring last year, and they are scoring very well now. And they've got some good wins.

"They are playing a lot looser and a lot more confident than they played last year."

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