Lady cagers face Iowa, Michigan

By DONNIE COLLINS
Collegian Staff Writer

Last season is but a distant chapter in the career of Randi Peterson.

Then, Peterson was just a talented freshman center trying to blaze her own mark on a senior-laden Iowa team which won the Big Ten regular-season women's basketball championship.

The season of maturation went without a hitch for the Cedar Falls, Iowa native. Peterson averaged nearly five points a game in Big Ten competition, including a season-high 15-point effort against Minnesota on Dec. 28, 1997. She also established herself as a force to be reckoned with on the boards, amassing 52 rebounds against conference foes.

Although excelling off the bench last season, Peterson has assumed a different role this year. It's the role of starter and leader on a team that has gone from experienced to youthful in one short offseason.

"This year has been a very different year than last year," Peterson admitted. "I am becoming more of a leader this year, because I have to be. With seven freshmen, I have to be a leader."

The Hawkeyes, who lost four starters, including three of last year's four leading scorers, travel to Happy Valley at 7:30 tonight for their first meeting of the season with No. 20 Penn State at The Bryce Jordan Center. Iowa (8-7, 3-2 Big Ten) looks to rebound from a tough loss in overtime to Purdue last Sunday, while the Lady Lions (10-4, 2-2 Big Ten), who upended Michigan State Monday, will attempt to win consecutive conference games for the first time this season. After the battle with the Hawkeyes, the Lions hit the road for a meeting with Michigan at 2 p.m. Sunday.

Surprisingly, winning conference games hasn't proven to be a problem for the youthful Hawkeyes. With victories over Big Ten powers Indiana and Illinois, the Hawkeyes, predicted by many to finish in the middle of the conference, have shown the mettle of champions.

Starting two freshmen and two sophomores, including Peterson, coach Angie Lee's squad is on the brink of reentering the upper echelon of the conference -- a place to which nobody thought it would make such a swift return.

"We are definitely pleased with the way we are playing," said Peterson, who is averaging more than nine points and six rebounds per game. "Coach Lee has been real patient and I think she is pleasantly surprised with our performance."

With senior center Amy Herrig's 17 points per game average acting as the centerpiece of Iowa's offense, freshmen Lindsey Meder and Leah Magner, as well as sophomore point guard Cara Consuegra, have joined Peterson to form a youthful foundation.

With a win against Penn State, Iowa can tie Illinois for third place in the conference. Not bad for a team considered too young to contend.

But, if Peterson is correct, the best is yet to come.

"I am excited for what we are doing now, and what we are doing in the future," she said. "In three years we are going to be scary. But we have to keep focused to be successful."

For the Lions, a win is just as important. Currently locked in a fifth-place tie with the Spartans, Penn State hopes it can establish itself as the team to be the main challenger to Purdue's throne.

If the Lions are to pull off a sweep of the Hawkeyes and Michigan this weekend, they will need to rely on a recurrence of the defensive domination which forced Michigan State into miserable 20-percent shooting from the field Monday.

"When they played against us last year, they pressed us," Michigan coach Sue Guevara said. "We'll be ready for it. We're not going to see something we haven't seen before. It's just a matter of executing our press breaker.

"I know it will be intense. (Penn State is) very quick, and they get their hands on a lot of stuff. But I'm thinking we're going to be able to break it."