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UNIVERSITY OF IOWA BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

December 9, 2016

Lisa Bluder

Iowa City, Iowa

Robert Morris - 60, Iowa - 81

COACH BLUDER: Well, pretty good week. We went 3-0. I know all three games are here in Carver, but this was a really good week for us. This is a tough task. You know, two in-state rivals and then to follow up with a really good Robert Morris team just with one day to prepare for them. I'm happy with that.

You know, I was worried about this game. I felt it was a little bit of a trap game, the emotions and the highs of beating UNI and Iowa State, and then coming out and having to prepare and play in one day. I thought our team did a good job with that.

The beginning of the game, you could tell maybe our defensive energy wasn't there, but I thought Kathleen Doyle really brought it in the fourth quarter, both offensively and defensively. She brought some energy and gave us a little bit of life there. We took care of the ball today. That was good to see. We really took care of the glass. That was nice.

Megan, I'm really disappointed in her, one rebound shy of another double-double, so why couldn't you find one more?

But overall, very good week for us.

Q. What did you guys talk about in practice yesterday to get in everything?
COACH BLUDER: We really were not on the floor very long, because you worry about their legs at that point. We did a lot of shooting and more than anything, we just tried to prepare for Robert Morris as best we could.

Again I think they had great focus coming into that practice and that helped us get through it.

Q. How big were the second-chance points today?
COACH BLUDER: Yeah, I think we had 14, didn't we, 14 or 15 second-chance points. So I look at Megan, because she's usually responsible for a lot of those for us.

But again, the glass, both offensively and defensively, was really good.

Q. You have this week off to sit back and reflect on the first half of the season before Big Ten play, so what are your biggest takeaways of this first half?
COACH BLUDER: You know, I think we are still a work-in-progress. I think we're getting better all the time, though.

I feel like we took care of the ball better, which was something that we really wanted to improve on with our basketball team.

You know, our freshmen are really still learning this offense, so that's going to take a little bit more time. But really, right now, it's not really getting ready for Big Ten. It's getting ready for Drake, and to me, that's the biggest in-state rival we have, because we're playing at the Knapp Center, a tough place to play. Drake just shoots the lights out of the ball. They are playing really well.

So to me, it's really not getting ready for the Big Ten yet. We want to take care of the state championship and we know that we have the toughest task ahead of us yet.

Q. More great minutes for Hannah Stewart, eight points, eight rebounds --
COACH BLUDER: Had a career-high in rebounds. She's playing well for us. She doesn't force anything. She doesn't create things. She just takes what's there and that's what's great. That's why she's 4-for-4 shooting. I'm really glad to see her minutes. She's doing a really good job backing up Megan.

Q. A 13-0 run at the end of the first half and you ended the game on a 14-2 run. What was the difference and why were you able to close the halves on such a strong note?
COACH BLUDER: Yeah, I'm not sure what one reason was. I'd like to think it's because we're playing more people. I mean, we have a lot of people in double-figure minutes. You look at almost ten players in double-figure minutes for us, and it's hard. When you're playing so many minutes for the other team and we have fresh legs coming in all the time, pretty soon it just wears you out and I think that helps.

Q. Was that important to counter their aggressive defense with fresh legs?
COACH BLUDER: I always think fresh legs are good for everything: Pushing the ball, defensively, just it helps, right. You're going against somebody that's a little more fatigued, you have the advantage, so use it.

Q. Can you talk about the balanced scoring? I think you had four in double figures and two more with eight points.
COACH BLUDER: Yeah, I love the balanced scoring. I hope it's something that we're known for.

I think we proved the other night that you can focus on these two up there, but somebody else is going to step up. I know our threes weren't falling as well tonight but I do think the three games in a week had a little something to do with that.

But on the other hand, I thought our three-point defense was really good again. A number of times this year, we just had excellent three-point defense and again, this is a team that shoots a lot of threes and shoots well from three-point range. That was one of our keys to begin this game and I thought we did a good job with that again.

Q. Why do you think you are so good at three-point defense?
COACH BLUDER: You know, I just really feel like we're getting out screens, we're covering them pretty well, we're getting around them, we're communicating on them.

I think our ball pressure is better this year, and I think that helps. We just have a little bit better idea of where shooters are and really communicating on that. But I think it really has to do a little bit with our ball pressure.

Q. Late in the first half, you kind of showcased a look. - was that a one-two-two, like half-court trap defense, or is that something you've been working on?
COACH BLUDER: Yeah, it's a little press that we're working on. So we'll keep working on it.

Q. You kind of touched on it in your opening statement, but three games in less than a week and you come away 3-0, you have to feel good about that. What does this do confidence-wise heading into the mini-break?
COACH BLUDER: Yeah, what I think is even better is the feeling that our players get going into finals week 3-0. I mean, that's really big. When you go in as a winner into finals week, it makes a big difference on just your attitude, your energy, your pep in your step, everything.

So I'm glad for them academically that we went into finals week 3-0. But it certainly is nice to sit on a little eight-day or nine-day break being 3-0 over this last week over dwelling on a loss.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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