Lisa Bluder analyzes Iowa’s hard-fought victory against West Virginia in the NCAA Tournament.
Iowa (31-4, 15-3 Big Ten) and West Virginia (25-8, 12-6 Big 12) both deserved it. But the Hawkeyes accomplished exactly that, winning a tough second-round NCAA Tournament match 64–54.
Caitlin Clark scored 32 points, including five 3-pointers, to lead Iowa. Clark also contributed three assists and eight rebounds. In the category of players with at least ten points, Sydney Affolter, a junior guard, and Hannah Stuelke, a sophomore forward, both had twelve points, in addition to Clark.
Stuelke grabbed 11 rebounds in addition to her double-double. Kate Martin, a graduate guard, ended with ten rebounds, pulling in double figures. Iowa advances to the Sweet 16, where it will play Colorado (24-9, 11-7 Pac-12). The two teams will play each other again in the Sweet 16 of the previous season. The Hawkeyes prevailed in that game, of course, 87-77.
Clark led Iowa to victory over the Buffaloes with 31 points. Head coach Lisa Bluder spoke with the media following Iowa’s victory over West Virginia to discuss the Hawkeyes’ victory. First remarks.
LISA BLUDER: Let me start by clarifying that I did not state earlier this week that West Virginia was an 8 seed. No manner is possible. That is one talented crew. In his one year there, Mark has performed admirably, and they gave it their all on the field.
However, I did believe that it would be one of the stronger defensive teams this season. Against that pressure defense, I’m incredibly pleased with our team for only committing six turnovers in the second half. That’s maintaining your cool, particularly after they tied it up. We may have had the lowest field goal percentage we have ever used to win a game. We managed to prevail in a different manner tonight, thanks to our defense.
We had seven more reps than they did. We thought the ball was valuable. Initially, it was a little unstable, but we appreciated the ball. Additionally, we played a solid defense tonight. Although our offense gets all the attention, I thought our defense played a fairly decent game tonight.
Knowing that Iowa would be kept 30 points below its average and that Caitlin Clark would make one field goal in the final 16 minutes, how would she have appreciated Iowa’s chances?
LISA BLUDER: Well, it’s probably not that great. That’s not generally how we play, but we made it work, and I’m really pleased of this squad for being able to change course and find a different approach to win.
Once more, I believed that we only turned the ball over 15 times whole season against that pressure defense, which is the fewest of any West Virginia opponent. I am quite proud of our women for maintaining their poise in that circumstance. And having a fantastic home crowd to play for undoubtedly helped.
What attacking plays worked well in the second half?
Lisa Bluder: We reached the free throw line early in each of the two quarters of the second half. Getting to the free throw line and generating fouls was our best offensive strategy. Reaching the free throw line was by far the simplest option for us to score because we are a proficient free throw shooting squad.
You’re going to foul a lot when you play that pressure defense, so I’m glad our crew called it tonight. In the Princeton game, for example, there were 57 free throws made. Thus, that is not an uncommon occurrence.
This game reminds me of the Georgia game from last season.
Lisa Bluder: We didn’t discuss it in detail, but I believe that everyone knew that we were successful in pulling that off the previous year. That, in my opinion, gave us courage. We will use that experience whenever we can, especially in instances where it might be a source of comfort. That probably helped us out tonight.
What aspect of West Virginia’s half-court defense proved to be the most difficult?
LISA BLUDER: I’m going to keep the scouting report to myself for the time being since I don’t want to share it with anyone. You can view the movie to find out what irritated us there. Obviously, isn’t that right? You witnessed their superb defensive play. That’s going to be my ending.
The impact of mentoring Caitlin Clark on her life
LISA BLUDER: I just feel like I value her abilities so much. I really like how she handled things, so thank you very much. She wears a heavy crown. Throughout the entire year, she has served as the face of both men’s and women’s basketball.
Her ability to pull off being a great teammate, not have people on this team be envious of her, film a commercial one day, and be in practice fully prepared to go the next day, all combined with seeing the best defense she can get every single night and really never having a bad night, has impressed me.
I suppose I’m just more understanding of the struggles these young women face in the modern world with regard to social media and the hateful people in the world. I suppose I’m simply grateful that they seem to be having a great time. Being a female athlete is fantastic right now, but it’s also quite challenging. It’s both of them. It is, in fact.
Regarding Iowa’s defense
LISA BLUDER: We attempted to switch up our defenses a little bit, but I thought our players were incredibly committed, had a thorough understanding of the scouting report, and were familiar with each other. This evening, Gabbie Marshall is without relevance. She put forth a ton of effort into defense. And that is really valuable. She also has a block tonight. That is really awesome.
No, I believe our defense was excellent, and I believe this is because they were so focused on it and understood they would need to match the defensive intensity of such a strong defensive squad.
How they were restricted Quinerly JJ, Harrison Jordan
LISA BLUDER: That was our main concern when we arrived. We did an extremely good job of holding Jordan to just three points. Again, our defensive attention was focused on those two players because she is so quick when she is going downhill and JJ is such a great playmaker. Although we were aware that we would allow other players some easy shots, we truly believed that other players would have to defeat us. We will not allow those two to defeat us.
That will have to be done by others
A few individuals took the initiative and took some shots. I believe Kyah Watson had one of her best games ever tonight. Jayla Hemingway entered the game and also had an extremely good performance. Once more, it’s different when you take the ball away from those two players.
The influence of Sydney Affolter.
LISA BLUDER Since we were short on time by two minutes, I’m delighted you inquired about Syd. Her drive, dribble, layup from the left, and three-point play gave us a lot of momentum. I can now proudly acknowledge Syd.
Her confidence has grown along with how well she handles the ball. She finishes with seven rebounds overall. We had some excellent rebounding performances—Hannah has eleven, Kate has ten.
However, Syd, it’s quite challenging to get into a starting position at this time of year. That could really throw off a lot of teams’ game plans. However, I believe that Syd has always been highly valued by our team for the contributions she made. I’m pleased of the other members of the squad for accepting the fact that Syd is now a starter rather than lamenting Molly’s absence. It’s just a more optimistic way of looking at it mentally.
What Hannah Stuelke Means
Lisa Bluder: We were in need of her excellent ball-rebounding skills. I believe that on the defensive end, we needed her speed. She could have offensively been a little more aggressive tonight, in my opinion. She passed the ball too easily, in my opinion. In my opinion, she could have exerted a little bit more attacking effort.
And since she’s so talented and dynamic, I want her to do that. She didn’t display that aspect of her game tonight, but she was a huge asset to us in terms of defense, rebounds, and her ability to transition. Although we didn’t earn many transition offensive points, it was crucial for us that she could switch back to defense.
There’s Krysty, I see. There, I just wanted to give Krysty a shout-out. I cherish you. Krysty, our young captain from the first game, has accompanied us on this adventure. I’m really happy for her. We appreciate you being here for us the entire time, Krysty.