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UNIVERSITY OF IOWA BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCENovember 22, 2014Lisa BluderDAYTON – 83 COACH BLUDER: The intensity of the players, I was really happy with how we executed down the line. Sam, triple double. That is such a hard thing to accomplish. And she's done it five time in her career here. And that's amazing. Beth had five blocks. We had five people in double figures. And that's what we're all about is that balanced scoring that you can't concentrate on one player. Dayton will be a Top‑25 team before the year's over. They're probably the best 1‑3 team in the nation. They are an excellent team. They're deep, they're athletic, and I'm really proud of our players and fans. They got into it, they got loud and they helped us. They helped us down the stretch here. I thought our freshmen came in and did some nice things to. I thought Christina did a great job off the bench. Whitney did a nice job shooting the ball from three‑point range and getting three steals, but it was a team victory. Q. Did you think it would be the first time to 90 or would it take a little more? COACH BLUDER: Last year both teams scored in the 90's. We had trouble boxing them out, but at the end we did it. At the end we were getting our body on somebody and taking control of the game in the last four or five minutes. Again we took care of the ball. I love that we have seven turnovers at half and two in the entire second half. That's really important, because both teams shot identical from all areas, but we had five more opportunities to shoot the ball than they did and it really came because of the turnovers. Q. What can a win like this, this early in the season do for this team? PLAYER #1: I think this win is huge. It gives us a lot of momentum going into this week. And it was Iowa basketball. Playing hard to the end, unselfish basketball. That's what we're known for and that's what we try to do each day. Q. How important was it to get down and get a key play and come back? PLAYER #2: We talked about that. To just keep our composure, keeping our focus, and I think the hugest thing about that is we all believed we could still win. We were down nine with about 10 minutes left or so, but in that huddle no one had a down face, no one was, had their shoulders down, no one's head was down. Every everyone said, we have to do this and do it now. So we kept knocking shots down and kept believing and that's what's so amazing about this team. Q. Bethany, they had a lot of strong girls down low, how good a test was that for you? BETHANY DOOLITTLE: I think that's what a huge kind of warm up for the Big‑10 season. Everybody in the Big‑10 is big and strong and tonight was just kind of a just a little bit of an example of what that can be like. Q. Coach, you said yesterday you worked on free throws a little bit. You made your last eight, I think it was, tonight. 22‑25. That had to be nice. COACH BLUDER: Well, it was imperative, for to us win the game, that we make our free throws and we got to the free throw line and did a great job. And they did, too. They shot the ball well from the free‑throw line. So, again, both teams I think are so similar and it really comes‑‑ in my opinion, they rebounded better than we did, we took care of the ball better than they did. Q. In a game like this, so fast paced, does this set you up well for a game like this to play to your strengths? COACH BLUDER: That's what we want to do. Absolutely. We want to get up‑and‑down the floor. Last year we led the Big‑10 in scoring, we led the Big‑10 in assists, and we led the Big‑10 in field goal percentage. So that's our identity and we're going to continue to go with that. We like it. We like to play that way. Q. 33 seconds left, it was still a one possession game. Then you had that move. Can you kind of walk us through that what's the move called? Tell us about that? PLAYER: I don't really have a name for it, but, I don't know, I just saw an opening and went for it. And down the stretch that composure and concentration like we have been talking about, comes in play. And I went with what I saw was open. Q. Coincidence or not, about an eight or nine point game when you got the tech. Did that fire the team up at all? COACH BLUDER: You know, I think it maybe did. And I appreciate them wanting to fight for me. And, again, that's kids that‑‑ that's kids that care about each other and about us as a coaching staff, and that makes you feel pretty good as a coach that they saved me out there. Q. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Jan went after them during the timeout. If she would have got teed up, would you have been ejected from the game? COACH BLUDER: I believe so. But Jan is, you know, I don't think‑‑ she's a little calmer talking to them than I am. So that helps. She's a little more diplomatic than I am. Q. Coach, you touched on Whitney a little bit. I think the last three minutes she had, I don't remember the play, but she tied up a loose ball, a steal, and a three‑pointer or something like that. Can you just talk a little more about her? COACH BLUDER: She grew up, didn't she? That was an incredible performance for your second start in college basketball. And it was impressive. I thought her composure was excellent out there. And that's easily a game where freshmen can freak out a little bit, right? There's a lot of on the line there. And she didn't. And that's the type of player she is. She's very controlled, but the hustle plays, she got on the floor for that loose ball, she created a steal, for us, and, you know, I thought she played really well tonight. Q. With so many people contributing, Beth, what's the sense of the feeling of the team and how you guys are coming together right now? BETHANY DOOLITTLE: I think it's we showed what we can do out there today. That's what our team is. We are in an assist mentality and everybody is looking to give their teammate a shot. So we had five players in double figures and that's just a trademark for our team. Q. Coach, you got another game coming up on Tuesday. How do you recoup from having a back to back and dealing with an in‑state rival? COACH BLUDER: Right. Yeah, this is a little bit of a tough stretch, because it's five games or three games in five days and that's hard to do. Especially this time of year when you're not really in perfect game shape yet. So, we'll have to take it a little bit easier on them tomorrow, I guess. They like the sound of that. But we'll have to take it a little bit easier on them, because we practice Sunday, Monday, and play Tuesday. And we are on our home court, so it gets heightened. Your emotions get heightened. And so we're going to, again, have to keep our composure with that and expect the best shot we're going to get from them. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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