Issue link: https://catalog.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1129783
25 S potlights and storylines abound in Hollywood, California. But there is no way Megan Gustafson knew in 2015 that when she le Port Wing, Wisconsin, (population 164), that one of her final duties as a University of Iowa student-athlete four years down the freeway would take place in Los Angeles (population 4 million). It is an appropriate location for a Gustafson curtain call. ere she was, in the City of Angels on April 12, at the ESPN College Basketball Awards Show receiving a trophy as a Wooden Award finalist recognizing the nation's outstanding college basketball player. As Iowa's 2018-19 season progressed, it seemed a foregone conclusion that Gustafson would be up for such a prestigious honor. She led all Division I women's basketball players by averaging 27.8 points per game with a 69.6 field goal percentage. She also led the nation with 33 double-doubles and was third with 13.4 rebounds per game. ere is more symbolism within the Gustafson-Los Angeles merger. Aer Gustafson averaged 10.7 points and 6.8 rebounds during her freshman season with the Hawkeyes, Iowa associate head coach Jan Jensen — who took the lead in recruiting Gustafson and works with Hawkeye post players — suggested that the 6-foot-3 prodigy spend the offseason fine-tuning a hook shot. So, Gustafson searched the internet for how-to videos featuring Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, master of the skyhook. Abdul-Jabbar was known as Lew Alcindor during his college days at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). With Abdul-Jabbar in the post, the Bruins went 88-2 and won three NCAA Championships from 1966-69. He went on to star with the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA. Gustafson met Abdul-Jabbar during the Wooden Award festivities. "To be able to meet him and talk with him was special," Gustafson said. "I told him I watched his hook shot and he thought that was pretty cool." Los Angeles symbolism, Part II e groundwork for Iowa's 2018-19 successes on the court was positioned by what happened in Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles on March 17, 2018. e Hawkeyes were making their first NCAA appearance since 2015, but the journey was abruptly halted by a 76-70 loss to Creighton in the first round. roughout the 2018-19 season, Gustafson and her teammates admitted they weren't interested in a repeat of that postseason experience that le a bad taste in their mouths. By all accounts, that postseason loss in Los Angeles served as motivation for the Hawkeyes, who opened the 2018-19 season with four consecutive victories. ree times during the regular season the Hawkeyes put together five-game winning streaks. en, in a span of eight games from Feb. 25 to March 30, Iowa went 8-0, won the Big Ten Tournament with victories over Indiana, Rutgers, and Maryland, and won its first three games in the NCAA Tournament. Iowa won a school-record 29 games in 2018-19 and over the course of the 36-game season, Gustafson scored 30-or-more points 13 times and 40-or-more points three times. She pulled down a career-high 20 rebounds at Nebraska on Feb. 25. Iowa's season ended April 1 with an 85-53 loss to eventual national champion Baylor in the Elite Eight in Greensboro, North Carolina. It was Iowa's first Elite Eight experience in 26 years. en Gustafson's tumultuous month began. She traveled nearly 9,000 miles in 10 days, beginning with a flight to Tampa, Florida, for the Final Four where a majority of national awards were announced. Aer a day or two in Iowa City, it was off to New York City for the WNBA Dra, where Gustafson was selected in the second round (pick 17) by the Dallas Wings (she was