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BIG TEN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPMarch 2, 2017Lisa BluderMegan GustafsonAlly DisterhoftIndianapolis, Indiana Northwestern - 78, Iowa - 73 THE MODERATOR: We've got Iowa here. Coach Bluder, Ally Disterhoft and Megan Gustafson. Lisa, an opening statement. COACH BLUDER: All right. I want to congratulate Northwestern. They came out and played a terrific game today. They're much more aggressive than they were at our place, especially defensively. A lot of Nia Coffey out there. We just didn't really have an answer to be able to stop her. She was tremendous in both zone and player. I want to congratulate her. Also want to make note that Ally was named the Academic All-American of the year this year, back to back with those honors. It's an amazing accomplishment to be named captain of the All-American team academically. We're really proud of her successes in the classroom. Megan had a career high tonight, nice to see. But again it was a box-out problem and just too much Nia Coffey. THE MODERATOR: Questions for the students. Q. Nia Coffey is a very good player but in that second quarter and third quarter what was Northwestern doing or what enabled her to really get in the rhythm and they consistently were able to go to her and find success? MEGAN GUSTAFSON: I think in the second and third quarter they were able to get a box overload on us. And sometimes I got stuck in the high post and then coming down I wasn't able to close out baseline. Our traps needed to be a little bit better. I think in the second half we did a better job of taking away the trap. Q. Megan, how did the game change a little bit when she was in foul trouble in the second half. Seemed like you were obviously trying to get the last foul on her and attacking inside. And did that also open up some things where maybe she wasn't as aggressive inside defensively? MEGAN GUSTAFSON: I don't think she ever stepped down from her aggressiveness. She kept going, but I think it really gave us confidence going in there when she was getting fouls and so we were able to take the ball and to get it inside more often. Q. Ally, late in the first half Coffey went to the bench I think with her second or third foul, whatever it was, and they took a two-point lead, stretched it out to nine, 10, 11 different times. What happened defensively there where their star player went out and they extended the lea? ALLY DISTERHOFT: They have a star player, but they also have a group of other young women who are very capable of scoring. That's just basketball for you. Basketball is a game of runs. And they went on a run in that stretch. Like Coach Bluder said, they were upping their defensive and offensive intensity at that point. And we just didn't respond as well as we could have in the end of the second quarter. Q. Ally, obviously the loss stings, but the Academic All-American, what does that mean to you? ALLY DISTERHOFT: Really appreciative and grateful for that, not just myself, but I know my entire team. And every student-athlete puts a lot of work in their studies and it's something that we take a lot of pride in. So to be recognized for those accomplishments is always nice. Q. Lisa, the same question with Coffey, what in that second and third quarter specifically, why was she able to have so much success? COACH BLUDER: I thought she got in a real rhythm in our zone. I thought we had trouble finding her in the zone, in the first half. They did a great job of isolating her and finding her. But we went player almost exclusively from then on. And we just couldn't -- we didn't really have an answer for her. And it was her night. I mean, she's been playing really well. She didn't play very well against us the first time as far as consistently scoring. But she's a tremendous player. And give credit to her. I thought she just did a great job. Q. You guys were down, I think, 12 points late in the third quarter. What turned it around? You took the lead at I forget what moment it was. COACH BLUDER: We hit a couple of 3s, that's always nice, kind of gets us going a little bit. I think that we scored a lot better in the third quarter. I think it was our best scoring quarter of the night. There's a stretch where we didn't turn the ball over. We turned the ball over down at the end of the game too many times and just didn't give ourselves opportunities. They shot the ball seven more times than we did and outrebounded us. That's a little of what's frustrating, I guess, is the rebounds because you have control over your box outs, and that's the one that's a little bit frustrating. Q. You touched on Ally's Academic All-American honor. I assume it's got to be easy as a coach to have a player you don't have to worry about in the classroom. With her talent, too, as well. It's probably, I assume, quite a luxury to have someone like her? COACH BLUDER: It is. It's just a real blessing we've been able to coach Ally. She's a local product and that's fun for those kind of players to come to Iowa and have success. And anytime somebody has success in one area you're thrilled for them, but to have success in all areas, it takes a lot of work. It's a lot of work as a student-athlete to be able to do both well and she's been a great role model to everybody that it can be done. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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