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NCAA WOMEN'S 1ST AND 2ND ROUNDS: IOWA CITY

March 23, 2019

Iowa City, Iowa

LISA BLUDER: I mean, we're glad to be here today. I mean, only 32 are standing now, and so we're glad that we're one of them. You know, we don't feel like we played maybe our best game of the year yesterday, and that's probably okay. We survived, we moved on, and we're forgetting about that and moving on to our full focus on Missouri. I heard Robin after the game say she didn't think her team played the best game, either. I think both of us are going to have our teams ready to go tomorrow.

Missouri obviously a very good defensive team, good defense, and good three-point defense. Cunningham is just so much to handle. She is a terrific All-American type player, but this is a team that I know that we're going to have to have an incredible focus tomorrow and it's going to be a lot more physical than it was yesterday, and we're going to have to be able to be mentally strong as well as physically strong tomorrow.

Q. Megan, I'm assuming you're used to seeing doubles and triples like you saw against Mercer yesterday, but it looked pretty physical. Was that something you were also used to or something you had to fight through in that game?
MEGAN GUSTAFSON: Yeah, you know, seeing double and triple teams being physical is something I've been used to all year long, and so I think especially in the Big Ten conference they've been very physical, and I think it's prepared me well, especially going into this postseason play.

Q. Megan, what are your thoughts on Sophie Cunningham, and how hard of a guard is she?
MEGAN GUSTAFSON: Yeah, she's a really good player. She's a tall guard, too, and that's always hard to have. It's one thing if you're a really good guard, but if you have length and size, that's pretty hard. Again, hats off to her, she's a great player, and we're going to have to be ready on her defensively.

Q. Megan, you mentioned Sophie, but when you combine Sophie with Cierra obviously coming in halfway through the season, how much do you think the addition of Cierra gives them a different dynamic?
MEGAN GUSTAFSON: Yeah, it's kind of a one-two punch there, so we've got to be ready for that. They both work pretty well together. Again, we just have to be ready, be prepared and to be able to play our principles defensively. They're both really longer, especially guard, and then post, she's about 6'4", so we've got to be ready for that play, and just be ready for that match-up.

Q. Megan, you're one of three senior starters. This is really your last game at Carver-Hawkeye tomorrow. Have you thought about that? Obviously you would like to go out with a win. Have you thought about this being your last game?
MEGAN GUSTAFSON: Yeah, I've thought about it a little bit. I think I'm just going to go into it like any other game, preparing for it and not really wanting to think about that. But at the same time I'm going to play my heart out and I know my teammates are, and it's going to be a lot more sweeter when we get a win, and so then it won't be as sad not having to play in Carver anymore.

Q. Kathleen, yesterday Mercer was able to apply a lot of pressure and force turnovers. How do you remedy that going into a match-up against Missouri tomorrow?
KATHLEEN DOYLE: Yeah, I think just being a triple threat is really important, and like Coach said it's going to be even more of a physical game, so us guards need to be prepared out on the perimeter staying in triple threat and making sure we have all of our options.

Q. Kathleen, I know down the stretch of that game you were pretty pumped, kind of pumping up the crowd. Do you imagine that same type of atmosphere for tomorrow's game?
KATHLEEN DOYLE: He yeah, we have the best fans in the country so I'm assuming they're going to come out in full force for us, and we really appreciate all of them coming out all year long, and I really don't doubt that that will happen again.

Q. You mentioned Sophie Cunningham already, but I don't know if you can kind of talk a little bit more about the challenges she gives different defenses when you kind of watch her in that game and watch her on tape?
LISA BLUDER: Yeah, she can just score in so many different ways. She's shooting 50 percent from the three-point line, range, but she'll beat you off the drive. They do a great job of setting ball screens for her and getting her open for the drive, and then she can post-up and do a great job drawing fouls on the block. So she is a very tough assignment. Yeah, just a really good -- and you know, senior. She's got all this experience. She's been playing there since her freshman year she's been a starter, and obviously just like all seniors, they don't want to see their seasons come to an end right now, so they play with a little different urgency.

Q. Having coached Robin and having her on her staff a while ago, is there any traits you can see from your teams in Missouri that maybe carried over that maybe Robin got from spending some time with you?
LISA BLUDER: No, I really don't. I mean, that was 30 years ago. I mean, that's a long time ago. I think we've both changed quite a bit in so many ways during that amount of time. I will say that I think she coaches the same way she plays. She was tenacious. I mean, she was an undersized 4 that was just really, really good in the post area. I mean, she had terrific post moves, and you see her niece doing the same thing and just really see teaches post play so well. But I'm really impressed with their defense. I think she's done a really, really good job defensively with this team.

Q. Lisa, if you could, the three seniors playing their last game at Carver-Hawkeye tomorrow, what they have meant to this program? I know it's not an easy question to answer, but a Cliff's Notes version maybe?
LISA BLUDER: Yeah, you know, it's been nice that we've been able to have two more games in Carver, and I know a lot of people around the country don't get to do that. Their senior night is actually their last night. So it was nice for us to be able to have two more opportunities to play in front of our home crowd, which I thought yesterday was just terrific. I mean, it had to be one of the best environments in the nation yesterday for the preliminary rounds.

They were wonderful, and I know they're going to come out again tomorrow, and they're coming out because they love this team. They're coming out because they're great Hawkeye supporters, and they're coming out because of these three seniors.

But Tania, it's been said so many times, but what she's meant to our team as far as her resilience, her just amazing way to bounce back after ACL, ACL, and to continue to go through the grind just so that she can put a Hawkeye uniform on when she could have copped out on that. She could have just given up and just taken her scholarship, but she wanted to represent Iowa. She wanted to play in this NCAA Tournament so badly. So I love it for her.

And for Hannah, just having such a different path than Megan and Tania in that she didn't play much as a freshman, and a lot of kids bail on that. A lot of kids don't stick around if they're not getting the minutes; they're hitting the road. She didn't. She loved the University of Iowa. She knew she could get better. She kept a positive attitude. She was voted a captain last year, and even as a junior she didn't have a starting role, but she excelled coming in at the 4 and the 5 and backing up both of those positions. So coming into this year and having a starting position, being rewarded for all that positive energy, just amazing. Again, you couldn't script it any better.

And then Megan, you know, I've run out of ways to describe that kid. But I know she's been one of the easiest stars I've ever coached. She's been one of the most -- the least drama kids that I've ever coached. She's given me no issues whatsoever. She's an absolute joy. You know, she deserves to go out of here with a win, and that's what we're going to hope to give her tomorrow, although we know it's going to be very difficult.

That wasn't really a Reader's Digest version.

Q. How much easier is it when your star player is as humble and unassuming as Megan is?
LISA BLUDER: It's so much easier because she's the hardest worker on the team, so she's setting the example, and then when you're that hard of a worker, nobody is jealous of your success because you've worked for it, and they've seen how hard she's worked for it, so that's not even an issue. And then when you're the first one to be such a great teammate, to spend time with your teammates, to be humble. I call her an all-American with no ego. She's confident because she's worked hard but she has no ego. It's easy to be around those type of people, right? It's easy to be around people that don't think they're great when they are. And so she has just been marvelous to coach, and I just hope I get to coach her for another week.

Q. Just when you were coaching Robin in college, did it ever cross your mind, did you ever think or maybe even hope to face her or any of your players one day in as big of a game as tomorrow?
LISA BLUDER: I mean, no way. You can't even dream that, right? You just -- you never have those kind of thoughts that this kid could some day be a BCS coach at an SEC school, doing so well that they're in the top 32 in the country. I mean, you can't think that type of story. That's just unbelievable. And she's done a great job with it.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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NCAA WOMEN'S 1ST AND 2ND ROUNDS: IOWA CITY

March 23, 2019

Lisa Bluder

Kathleen Doyle

Megan Gustafson