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UNIVERSITY OF IOWA BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEJanuary 8, 2012Lisa BluderNEBRASKA – 77 COACH BLUDER: I want to thank the great crowd we had today for coming out to support us. That was wonderful. Too bad we couldn't have given them the victory. I thought we played decently. But just Hooper and Moore were too much for us. I thought they made some big‑time shots when they had to when the game was on the line and those two players stepped up and made huge shots for Nebraska. And I thought Hooper made some really tough shots, contested shots, people in her face and she was still able to put them down. Second half, we got out‑rebounded so badly, gave up a lot of possessions, got out‑rebounded by nine in the second half and that's not good. But basically, they hit threes; we didn't. We had more shoots on baskets than they did. But when you're not converting them, it makes it tough, and we just didn't get to the free throw line as much either. Q. Morgan and Jaime have been really consistent this year; what's been the key to their consistency? COACH BLUDER: I think we need to get the ball inside to Morgan more. Again she shoots the ball extremely well again tonight; she had the double‑double. I would love to give her more touches. I think we need to get the ball inside to Morgan more than we are. But you know, Jaime is always a consistent scorer for us. She also has five assists and zero turnovers tonight, so that was really good to see, and three steals, as well. So that was ‑‑ and she got herself to the free throw line. Q. You have a week off until your next game, is that a decent time for you guys? COACH BLUDER: Pretty good time for us. We could really use it. Obviously Sam, Kalli, kind of banged up; Theairra is a little banged up. So it will nice to get some rest for those players. Melissa has surgery tomorrow, so we'll be thinking about her during that and hoping for good news for a speedy recovery from that, because we miss her, there's no doubt we miss her. Gave up 46 points on second half and we missed her defense I think. Q. An eight‑point lead with about 16 minutes to go, did Nebraska do something different or what happened the rest of the way? COACH BLUDER: You know, I don't know if they did a lot differently. There's a lot of time left in the game at that point, so you don't panic. You keep doing what you're‑‑ they are a good defensive team. They deny hard. You know, I thought the thing that was different the first half, second half, was their rebounding, or maybe our lack of; that really was a big change, a nine‑nine rebound swing in the second half was a big change. Really, they put down some tough shots and you have to credit them for that. Q. Obviously you guyshave a reputation for pulling off the same kind of shots, just a matter of time or is there something that you guys have to work on? COACH BLUDER: Well, we work on it. It's not that we don't work on it. We do. But you know, we just keep hoping that every game, it's going to come out for us. We practice them. We put them in game situations at practice. I think a lot of it is a confidence issue at this point. Q. Are teams trying to take that away from you? COACH BLUDER: I think teams definitely try to take that away from us. I think Nebraska was trying to take away from us and that gave us 36 paint points, so that was nice to see. But 2‑for‑16 is not very good. I don't think we are taking bad three‑pointers. I don't know, I'll go back and check that again. But I don't think we are taking bad three‑pointers. We just have to put our amount, a normal amount. If you're getting 16 good threes, you've got to put some of those down. Q. How important was it for Morgan to cover the offense; four fouls made a big difference. COACH BLUDER: They made a big difference when Morgan picked up her fourth foul, because things are clicking along pretty well there. That was unfortunate. But yeah, Morgan, she's so productive when the ball is in her hands and not only scoring‑wise, but she passes the ball very well. She likes to feed the guards, and so that, I should think, gives them confidence in passing her the ball, too. Q. When was the decision made to give Sam the play, and how would you judge her performance tonight? COACH BLUDER: Yeah, she did some shooting yesterday and that was‑‑ and walked through the Nebraska plays. But we felt yesterday that she would be able to go today. You never know for sure. But you know, she was obviously a little bit slow out there. But she'll be ready to go by next week. Q. Virginiaclear today? And what did Kalli do, more of the same injury? COACH BLUDER: She has a groin pull that we just can't quite get over that. Those can be kind of nagging. Q. Virginia cleared? COACH BLUDER: Yeah, cleared to play. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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