Iowa Hawkeyes women 65 Winona State 51

I'm a little late getting to this one, but I wanted to comment on the Iowa-Winona State women's exhibition game in Iowa City on Sunday afternoon. Not only because I have an interest in both of these 2 teams, but also because of all the discussion about what one should think of exhibition games generally.

In the aftermath of the Gopher men's uninspired and uninspiring win over Bemidji State 71-58 last week, of course, Gopher partisans are saying that exhibition game are meaningless. And when somebody posted on the Gopher Hole that Augustana is a lot better than Bemidji, somebody else said that, since exhibitions are meaningless, Minnesota is better than Augustana even if the Augies should happen to win.

Well, I'm seeing the Gophers play the Augies in a couple of hours, but for now...I just couldn't let pass the fact that the Winona State women led Iowa 23-19 at half-time. The Hawkeyes came back to score 46 2nd half points (shooting 56 percent versus 26 percent in the 1st half) to get the win.

You may recall that I picked Winona to win the NSIC title this year, whereas the coaches have picked Augustana. So thanks to Winona coach Scott Ballard and his women for making me look good today. Senior post Michelle McDonald led Warriors scorers with 16 and all players with 12 boards.

But, meanwhile, I was also intrigued by the performance of Iowa freshman point guard Sam Logic. Whereas our own Rachel Banham was rated as the #18 senior in the class of 2011, Logic was rated #10. And like Banham, Logic got off to a fast start--not in the 1st half, so much, but in the grand scheme of things (a 4 year college career) have a good 2nd half in your 1st game will be remembered as a pretty good start. Logic finished with 16 points to lead all scorers with 6 assists, 6 steals and 1 turnover.

All I can say is DAMN it's a shame that Logic and Banham will not meet on the Williams Arena floor as freshmen, though the will play in Iowa City on February 9. I am also heartsick that I won't see Iowa senior (and Crookston, MN, native) Kamille Wahlin play the Gophers for a final time. (Wahlin contributed 10 points and 3 assists in the Winona State win. Meanwhile, last year's prize recruit, Jamie Printy, a pre-season 1st team all-Big 10 selection, scored just 6 points, but added 5 assists and 4 steals, but 4 turnovers as well.

The coaches and media had Iowa 3rd or 4th in the pre-season rankings. I say #2 is as low as I'm gonna go with the Hawks, and a Big 10 title is hardly out of the question. The Hawks have 4 starters back (Kelly Krei and Morgan Johnson joining Wahlin and Printy) plus Logic.

Iowa may not have great depth, however, due to an epidemic of knee injuries down there. St. Paul Central grad Theiarra Taylor had 2 points in 5 minutes as she attempts to come back from her 2nd ACL. Freshman post Bethany Doolittle, from Hill-Murray, had 2 points and 4 boards in 14 minutes in her debut.