Lisa Bluder explains how Iowa navigates pressure with added attention on Caitlin Clark

Iowa women’s basketball is the hottest team in sports right now, and the Hawkeyes have Caitlin Clark to thank for it.

While the attention it brings to women’s basketball and women’s sports as a whole is warranted but can be a lot for one team to handle, as Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder explained.

“We’ve tried to keep it a bubble,” Bluder during an appearance on ESPN’s College GameDay ahead of Sunday’s matchup against Ohio State. “We really have tried to keep it just us and try to ignore some of the outside noise. It’s hard at times. But definitely, we want to choose to stay mission-focused wherever we go and whatever we do.”

Over the past couple of years, the added attention has culminated to the point where Clark is the center of the college basketball world — and there’s no escaping it. The media attention, the fanfare — it’s right in front of the Iowa superstar, yet herself and her teammates remain unfazed having compiled a 25-4 overall record and are expected to be a one or two seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

At the same time, Clark is under a microscope every time she’s on the court with her entering Sunday just 18 points away from breaking ‘Pistol’ Pete Maravich’s all-time NCAA scoring record.

Carver-Hawkeye Arena will be filled to capacity to watch Clark become 1 of 1 in the college basketball record books. After that, the story isn’t finished as Clark still has a Big Ten and an NCAA Championship to chase in the coming month.

Shortly after, she’ll make headlines one again when she spearheads the 2024 WNBA Draft class, something Indiana Fever fans — whose team hold the rights to the No. 1 overall pick — are becoming increasingly excited about. Ticket prices recently skyrocketed in anticipation of Clark’s arrival.

As long as Clark is a member of the Hawkeyes women’s basketball team — there is no escaping the frenzy that comes with having the best player in college basketball on their squad. Especially when they’re chasing history.

Clark leads the country in points per game, averaging 32.2 points for Iowa this season. Not to mention her 7.4 rebounds and 8.7 average assists as well. She does everything for Iowa, which has made it difficult not to notice the level of greatness that fans, not matter the sport, have come together to watch and appreciate.

Tune in to FOX for Iowa’s 1 p.m. ET tip-off against Ohio State as Clark looks to rewrite the history books.