Iowa women face Fairleigh Dickinson in season opener Monday
By Susan Harman
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Fairleigh Dickinson, the school–not the man, is the opponent in Iowa’s home opener Monday night at 6:30 p.m.
Dickinson, the man, was a North Carolinian sailor who turned into a successful entrepreneur. He helped fund the founding of the university in the 1940’s as a junior college in northern New Jersey. It soon became a four-year school, and in 1956 attained university status.
The school’s athletic high point came just a few months ago when, as a 16 seed in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, it upset top-seeded Purdue.
The women’s team that will play Iowa is not of that caliber. FDU had a successful season a year ago, winning a second-consecutive Northeast Conference regular-season championship. But the Knights lost all five starters and their coach. New coach Stephanie Gaitley is a 36-year veteran, having won more than 600 games at different schools during her career, but she will start from scratch with these players.
Much like last season when Iowa opened with Southern University and Evansville, FDU will not offer much of a challenge. Last year Bluder admitted to using practice time to prepare for more stout opposition, and this year is the same. Much of that is dictated by the schedule.
After Monday’s game the team has an NCAA-mandated day off Tuesday, Bluder said. On Thursday it plays ACC favorite Virginia Tech, a fellow Final Four qualifier last March, in Charlotte, N.C.
Apparently the off day is necessary under the NCAA’s 20-hour a week rule. The NCAA previously required a day off for Election Day, but that is no longer the case in Division I. Athletes are to be given one day off within 15 days either before or after an election for civic engagement activities.
The time crunch comes because of Monday’s game, Thursday’s game with the Hokies and a road game at UNI on Sunday.
FDU has six freshmen on the roster and returns five players from a season ago, only one of whom (senior guard Abby Conklin) averaged double-digit minutes. The Knights have only two players who top 6-feet, 6-2 transfers Teneisa Brown and Lilly Parke.
“I think we had to focus more on our own game preparation,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said when considering FDU’s roster upheaval and the arrival of a new coach.
“I think we’re as prepared as we can be. This team is ready to go,” Bluder said. “We had 10 extra practices this summer. I think the players feel prepared. We’re not easing into it, though, and that’s the hard part about this season. But I think it’s a real opportunity for us and a real opportunity for Virginia Tech.”
Although Bluder knows coach Gaitley through coaching committees, there was nothing in particular that led to this team coming to Iowa City.
“We have to figure out so many home games, and we know that not a lot of people want to come play us,” Bluder said. “And you have to find somebody on opening day. I don’t want to open up on the road, so your selections are not very, you know, voluminous. I want to play at home on opening day, and who’s willing to come. So it really is a matter of that and not any connection at all.”
Why don’t teams want to play at Iowa?
“I think it’s obvious: (Iowa’s) finish last year and the initials of C.C.,” Bluder said. No translation needed.