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BIG TEN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPMarch 9, 2019Lisa BluderMakenzie MeyerHannah StewartMegan GustafsonIndianapolis, Indiana Iowa - 72, Rutgers - 67 LISA BLUDER: We're pretty happy right now. You know, I consider the Big Ten one of the toughest conferences in America. There's 14 teams. We're down to the final two. It's pretty exciting for us to be playing the championship tomorrow. We're excited to get back, get our scouting report done. Q. Megan, could you just talk about the physical battle that you had tonight and your approach to it, and how long did it kind of take to get adjusted there? MEGAN GUSTAFSON: Yeah, I thought Rutgers did a nice job of being physical, which every team is going to be able to be doing that against me. I just didn't have -- a couple shots didn't go in in the first quarter, but my teammates did a nice job of uplifting me, keep encouraging me. And I was really focused on other things, especially in that first half, whether it was rebounding, blocking some shots, getting my teammates open for threes, that's what I was really focusing on, and then I was able to really refocus on the offense in the second half. Q. Megan, the wrist, the ice thing on your wrist, is that something from today or from earlier, and did that hamper you today? MEGAN GUSTAFSON: Yeah, it's just a little tweak, nothing serious. We've had a couple games in a row, and it's a grind right now, but we're excited to still be playing. Q. Hannah, they were able to kind of get back in the game after you guys had them down 20 points. How do you think they were able to do that and how did you guys kind of keep them off and were able to get this win? HANNAH STEWART: Yeah, Rutgers is a gritty team and we knew they were going to go on some runs. I think some of that was accredited to our turnovers and maybe being a little too lax when we had that 20-point lead, but I don't think there was ever a doubt in any of our heads that we weren't going to win that game. And huge credit to Tania Davis, our point guard, and she did a great job of bringing us together as a team and saying, hey, we're winning this game, everyone pick their heads up and let's get to work, especially when they got it close in those last couple minutes of that fourth quarter. There was never any doubt, but it definitely went a little gritty there. Q. Hannah, you were a little more aggressive taking those jumpers from the free-throw line early in the game. Was that a focus going into the game? HANNAH STEWART: I mean, that's kind of a focus for me every game. That's a shot that we practice a lot. I was feeling it a little bit in the game yesterday, so today I knew that I wasn't going to let anything stop me from taking those shots, especially when Megan wasn't hitting as much as she usually does, but we also knew that the odds were in our favor when we're up 10 and Megan goes 1 for 7 in the first couple minutes, like obviously she's going to come back and have a million points. So yeah, things are -- when my shot was falling, my teammates just gave me so much confidence to keep shooting it when it's there. Q. Hannah, you talked a little bit about Tania. Last night she had the three-pointer after Indiana went up one. Tonight she had the three-pointer after Rutgers had gotten back to within three. Tell me about her big plays there late. HANNAH STEWART: Yeah, she's got ice in her veins, that's what we always tell her. Gosh, she's just a good point guard, it's so fun to be on her team. She really, I think, brings us five starters and our whole team together as a whole. She can do it all, and she knows that it's not her job to necessarily score a bunch of points, but she'll hit those shots when they need to be hit and she'll take what's given to her. Yeah, it's just awesome being on the court with her. Q. Megan, can you put into words what it feels like for you to have gotten to the semifinal game and now to have gotten to the championship game after you got knocked out in the first game throughout your career, right? MEGAN GUSTAFSON: Yeah, so it feels pretty great. Today this is the first time I've been playing in a semifinal, let alone to be able to -- get a chance to play in the championship game. You know, Hannah could probably agree with me, but right now this is kind of all we've got, and we've just got to keep it going. We're going to fight every single day and we're going to prepare well tonight, and I'm just blessed to be on this team with these girls, and I'm just really excited to put it all out there tomorrow. Q. Makenzie, Coach obviously had a lot of faith in you because you played every single minute tonight. You were there for everything, all the back and forth runs that you guys went on (indiscernible) -- MAKENZIE MEYER: Yeah, well, I feel like I'm in pretty good condition after this season. Our strength coach, Coach D, does a really good job of that, so I felt prepared. There was a couple of minutes that I felt tired, but then you just think back to how much this game means and how bad we want to play that game in the championship. We knew Rutgers was a feisty team, and when we got that 20-point lead we knew they were going to come at us with their press, and they got us tight a little bit, and like Hannah said, Tania really brought us together and we really came together as a team and were able to keep our composure there down the stretch. Q. Makenzie, it looked like it was a real struggle, but could you talk about the Rutgers press? MAKENZIE MEYER: Yeah, and we were prepared for that. They do a really great job with that press. They press all 40 minutes, so we were ready to go. We had a couple different options for press breakers, and I think we just did a really good job preparing for that, and we were really confident in ourselves. We have two great point guards in Kathleen and Tania. They did a really good job down the stretch of being able to get it across the court and break it. And I think we did a really good job, especially in the beginning of the game, there was a couple of times that we were just able to shoot right through the press break and get lay-ups. I think overall we did a really good job. Q. Coach, we asked your team about it a little bit, but you were up 20, they were able to come back and get back in the game. How were you able to pull away and get this win? LISA BLUDER: Well, thank goodness we were up 20, right? Good thing we weren't just up 10 or 15. You know, I thought, this team has really good composure, and I think when you have good leadership, when you have good seniors, experience, been around the block a little bit, they can handle those situations a little bit better. But I do think Tania, as you can tell, these guys have so much faith in what she's saying to them and how she's bringing them together, and she is very good at that. She's very calm, and when she talks, you just believe her. I think that was a big part of it. But yeah, glad we had a 20-point lead. Q. Megan is obviously a great offensive player, but I think she's kind of an underrated defensive player. Can you talk about what she brings to your team defensively? LISA BLUDER: Yeah, I mean, we talk about every time you've got to finish the defense with a rebound, and what did she have tonight, nine defensive rebounds, three blocked shots? She changes people's shots inside there, and so, yeah, she does a great job on both ends of the floor for us. Everybody talks about her offense all the time because that's so remarkable. Q. You mentioned the seniors. They scored 15 points in the fourth quarter. Could you just see it in their eyes that even Rutgers was making a run, they weren't going to give it up? LISA BLUDER: You know, again, those guys have played so much basketball, and they are confident in each other. We're confident in them. But it didn't matter who was going to make those baskets. I believe Makenzie is going to be. I believe Doyle is going to be. I believe in all of them, honestly, but it was really nice to see Tania stick that three when we were only up three and then make those free throws, as well. Q. They had a very strong press, and they like to press a lot. How were you guys able to kind of defend every single time and then actually turn those into points? LISA BLUDER: Yeah, it kind of hurt us when they took the press off, actually. We were scoring some good points, they took it off and we kind of relaxed, and when they put it back on, we weren't as focused to break it. But I thought the first 25 minutes of this game, we broke that press really, really well and made them pay for it, too. You know, just practice, right? You practice those situations, and took advantage of it today. Q. You're facing Maryland tomorrow. It's going to be a great game. You were able to defeat them earlier in the year, but of course they have more to play for, you guys have more to play for. How are you going to be able to defeat this team? LISA BLUDER: I don't know yet. You know, we're going to go back and get to work on that. We have not looked ahead to Maryland or anything like that. You know, we beat them by 13 on our home court, but it was a close game. It was three points with two and a half to go, so we know it's going to be a battle. They're better with Brianna Fraser back now. She was out for a little bit. But they're going to be -- they're better with her back. It's going to come down to -- I think in these type of situations in March, limit your mistakes, we've got to knock down shots, and we've got to knock down threes, and that's really what it comes down to this time of year is limiting those mistakes as much as possible. Q. Do you think it's going to be the seniors that are going to be leading the game or is it going to be more you or are you just going to let them play? LISA BLUDER: Oh, I think they'll get them pumped up. They want to play -- this team cares about each other so much. They don't want to let each other down, and that's the best motivation that you can have. That's why we work hard in practice every single day, because they don't want to let each other down, and that's what's made them a really, really good basketball team. So in my mind it's always your seniors. Your seniors set the tone for the team. Your seniors lead. They kind of set the standards for the team, and I've got three really good seniors. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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