Everything Lisa Bluder said ahead of their first round matchup against SE Louisiana

Lisa Bluder met with the media on Thursday to discuss the Hawkeyes opening round matchup against 15 seed Southeastern Louisiana. She talked about the Lady Lions defense, the lay off from the Big Ten Tournament and the excitement around hosting an NCAA regional for the second straight season.

OPENING STATEMENT: Well, we’re happy to be here, although the drive wasn’t too long, so that was kind of nice. It’s awesome to be able to have this first game in our home environment. We think we do have one of the most special environments in all of women’s basketball around the country, so for us to be here and to be able to show again the country what kind of support the Iowa Hawkeyes get is very, very special.

As the girls alluded to, we’re fully in preparation to play Southeast Louisiana tomorrow.

Q. I asked the players, Southeastern Louisiana ranks right around 300th in possessions per game. They like to have lower scoring games. How do you go about running your normal transition, fast offense, without speeding up too much to try to get them out of their game and yourselves out of your own game?

LISA BLUDER: Yeah, they really hang their hat on defense. We feel like we’ve played against a lot of really good defensive teams all year long. We know that’s a part of their game plan. I don’t know if they’ve played against somebody as up tempo as we are. Maybe you can go back to LSU, who they played very closely. It was an eight-point game at LSU, or Alabama, which was a 10-point loss at Alabama.

But quite honestly, we’re not going to change up a whole lot what we do. We’re just going to go out and play our game, and if they want to slow it down, then that’s okay. But where we’re our best in transition is when our defense gets stops. That’s where we’re at our best anyway.

Q. You’ve had some time to go back and digest the Big Ten Tournament. What particularly stuck out about the way the team performed that led to the championship and what are you looking for in terms of areas of momentum to carry over into the NCAA Tournament?

LISA BLUDER: Yeah, I thought that we played really well as a team. High assists, balanced scoring, shot the ball well. And so to me, it’s like, we’ve just got to keep doing that. We’ve got to understand that this is the — the whole team needs to be involved for us to be at our very best. And when that happens, we’re really good. So we just want to keep that momentum going.

Q. Coach, how much of the added depth that you all have coming off the bench with Hannah and Molly, et cetera, will be helpful to you all going into the tournament?

LISA BLUDER: Well, absolutely. And Syd, too. Syd has been really playing some critical minutes for us.

Yeah, I think anytime you have that depth, it sure helps you get through a Big Ten Tournament when you play back to back to back. The NCAA Tournament at least you have a day in between. But the grind of the long season is real, and you can see a lot of teams are banged up around the country, and we’re not.

I think that speaks to the depth that we’ve been able to use the last couple of months of the year.

Q. You mentioned there were match-ups against LSU and Alabama. Alabama was averaging 75 points a game, they scored 55. LSU was averaging 85 and they scored 63 in that game. What stands out if you’ve watched film of those two games, about what Southeastern Louisiana did in those games to make it a lower scoring contest?

LISA BLUDER: You know, I did not watch those games. To me those were too far back — teams evolve throughout the year. I think we’re a totally different team than we were in November. I’m sure they’re a totally different team, so I did not watch film from those games. I really watched more recent film.

Q. I know the players were asked about the home crowd that they’re going to see tomorrow. Can you maybe comment on that, on the game selling out so quickly, just what kind of environment you’re going to have tomorrow?

LISA BLUDER: Yeah, playing in Carver is something very special, and that’s why we’re glad that we get one and hopefully two more opportunities to do so.

I know for our seniors, like Monika and McKenna, this is really special. This will be the last weekend they get to play in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Senior Day playing Indiana they didn’t have that pressure, now they’re going to be facing that a little bit. But it is so special to know that your arena sold out faster than any other in the United States, and that’s how important women’s basketball is to the state of Iowa.

I’m very, very grateful to be the coach here where people really respect what we’re doing and people are excited about what we’re doing, and we bring joy to people that watch us. I know there’s a lot of people that couldn’t get tickets to this game, and they’re going to be watching on TV and completely vested in this game.

It’s pretty humbling to know that this team is loved by so many, but we accept it and we enjoy it, and we want to give them a good show this weekend.

Q. How have you seen Hannah grow over the course of this year?

LISA BLUDER: Well, I think it’s just her maturity going from am I supposed to be here to, yes, I’m supposed to be here, to, yes, I’m an impact player. I think that’s been her evolution over the year is that first she’s like kind of tiptoeing around in the summer thinking, am I really here, and then now understanding we need her. It’s not that she’s just here, but we need her to be successful.

So I just think more it’s a confidence, it’s a mentality, and it’s also us being able to really identify her strengths and weaknesses and being able to emphasize those strengths.

Q. You had a pretty good amount of time between the Big Ten Tournament up until Selection Sunday, probably not that much time where you’re not preparing for another opponent. How advantageous was that to work on yourselves, and what is that process like as a coaching staff where you get a chance to maybe work on some finer details about the team?

LISA BLUDER: Yeah, when we come home from the Big Ten Tournament, it’s pretty exhausting, and you’re pretty mentally fatigued. Even when you win it, it’s such a high, and then it takes a little time to come down from that.

I’m really glad we had this time off. I’m glad we play Friday rather than Saturday, but I’m really glad we had this week and a half that we could kind of relax a little bit, regroup, get back to being Iowa, so yeah, we were able to work on us a little bit during the week before we found out on Sunday night who we were going to be playing.

But I think that’s a really good thing. Again, we’re not banged up, but a lot of teams are, but mentally I think it would have been really hard for us to turn around and play in a few days.

Q. You were talking about the fan support, but you don’t seem surprised by it. But has there been some moments where you’re just like, wow, I can’t believe that we’re getting this, especially on the road?

LISA BLUDER: Yeah, I guess the road is what surprises me more than anything. Carver we’ve had sellouts here. Last year we did really — when Megan was here, as well, in the NCAA Tournament. It’s not that I expect it. I value it, and I enjoy it, and it makes it very happy that we get the fan support that we do.

But what has been surprising to me is when we go on the road and when I see in Maryland girls with signs, I’m from Massachusetts and I came here to see you play, largely for Caitlin. We were at Nebraska, I’m your biggest fan in North Dakota, and people traveling miles to see this team and to see Caitlin play.

I got an email yesterday from somebody from New Jersey that her daughter got black and gold brace bands put on because she’s such a Caitlin Clark fan. To me that impact that she has made and thus our team has made across the United States, I mean, that’s really rewarding.

I think we saw that with Megan a little bit. Megan, everybody was out there doing the Mikan Drill after Megan. But we’ve kind of — we’re a team that I think a lot of people really like to cheer for from around the country, and that’s where I’ve seen the most — what shocks me a little bit is going to Penn State and seeing people just lined up after the game to get Iowa Hawkeye autographs.

Q. Lisa, do you sense this team is pretty loose heading into the NCAA Tournament this year? It would be easy to say that you guys might be tight after having an early exit, but do you sense this team is pretty loose?

LISA BLUDER: You know, I do right now. I feel like we’re just very glad to be at home. We’re enjoying the experience. We’re excited to play. I think what I see is more excitement to get back out on the court again. As we talked about, it has been a while, and that makes you just get excited to play. Like you just want to get out there again.

I see more of an excitement than a tightness.

Q. There’s been kind of a Big Ten drought in the Final Four. Got a No. 1 seed this year in Indiana, No. 2 seed in you guys. What is it going to take to break that, and do you think this is the year that happens?

LISA BLUDER: I sure hope it does. We have a No. 2 in Maryland, as well, so we have a lot of possibilities.

I think now we have teams, A, good enough to be there, and B, maybe a path to get there. Sometimes the path is not as easy. Sometimes you get a good seed, but it really comes down to match-ups a lot of times over seed, and I feel like this year maybe some of us have a good path to get there, as well.

I’m excited about this opportunity. I think that the Big Ten has proved over and over this year how good this conference is.

You know, I think this could definitely be the year.

Q. When you watch Southeastern Louisiana on film, they have plus 5 and a half in the turnover margin, very aggressive defensively. Do you sense that, as well, looking at that on film that their defense and their pressure could give you guys some fits?

LISA BLUDER: You know, I think they’re a very good defensive team. I think Jen Pierre is extremely fast at their point guard position. I feel like it’s what they stress. But again, I feel like we’ve played against some really good defensive teams. Whether it’s Maryland, Indiana, Ohio State, Connecticut, I feel like we’ve prepared ourselves to see good play in the NCAA Tournament. And so yes, they’re a good defensive team, but I feel like we’ve seen good defensive teams as the year has progressed.