BIG TEN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 4, 2022

Lisa Bluder

Caitlin Clark

Monika Czinano

Gainbridge Fieldhouse

Iowa Hawkeyes

Postgame Press Conference

Iowa - 72, Northwestern - 59

THE MODERATOR: We'll start with an opening statement from coach and then take questions for the student-athletes.

LISA BLUDER: Well first of all I thought our defense was really good tonight. I think Northwestern is an excellent basketball team and I know they hang their hat on defense.

I thought we shot the ball well. I do believe Northwestern should be an at-large team in the tournament. They're an excellent team. They're well coached. They play hard. They're an excellent team.

But I loved how we controlled the paint tonight with paint points. Monika obviously had a really good shooting night. I thought Kate Martin was the difference-maker for us tonight. Has a season high in points, a season high in assists, and she just was strong out there. She did all her scoring in the second half and sometimes that's hard. You miss your first one and then you come back and you play that well in the second half.

So Gabbie worked really hard on defense. Really pleased with the outcome, obviously, and excited to move on.

THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes.

Q. Caitlin and Monika, the start you guys had was excellent. The one thing I liked about both of you, the other starters did not have good shooting starting out the game, but they were doing little things and then they eventually came around and started putting some points up on the board for you two to give you the support that you needed. Talk about the other starters and the bench and how important they are to Iowa basketball.

MONIKA CZINANO: We couldn't do what we do without them regardless. Some of our best defensive players were some of the people who weren't having the best scoring night out front and we couldn't have won the game without them.

Gabbie played great defense on Veronica. We couldn't have done it without them. And I think both of us, we know that they're going to come around. We know that they're going to have good shooting nights.

So I think it was just a matter of time of getting them the ball making sure they were still confident and going from there.

CAITLIN CLARK: They are a huge part of our team. They do a lot of little things that don't show up in the stat sheet, especially Gabbie, one of the best point guards in the country. I mean, she's a tremendous player, and Gabbie's getting railed with a ball screen every single time down the floor. That's hard to guard.

And obviously McKenna probably didn't shoot as well as she could tonight but that happens. But I think McKenna plays hard every time she's on the floor.

And obviously Kate, one of her best games of the year and she's our glue. She's our captain, and she does a lot for this team, so I'm really happy to see her perform like that. But I know they didn't score in the first half but we knew in the second half to keep going to them and they were going to open it up for us and that's exactly what they did.

Q. How much fun was that third quarter when it seemed like everything was falling?

CAITLIN CLARK: Yeah, I mean, I thought we knew that shots were going to start going down and it was really contributions from every single part of our team. I think people came in. Tomi hit a shot. Addi hit a shot. Obviously Monika got a couple buckets, and then obviously Kate was tremendous there as well. I think Gabbie ended up hitting a three as well.

So that's when we're really good when everybody's scoring and contributing like that just because we're so hard to guard. It's five people on the court that are all a threat.

MONIKA CZINANO: I think that anytime you come to the Big Ten tournament and you haven't played a game yet like Northwestern has, the first half was just kind are getting used to it, getting a feel for the court. Our shoot-around isn't even here. This is our first time all year coming out here and playing.

So I think we kind of were expecting to need a little bit of time to figure it all out, but once we did, it was fun and that's what happened in the third quarter.

Q. We have double double, kind of flirted with a triple double. Six assists. And kind of an energy play where you got a steal. Isn't (no microphone) do a little bit of everything today?

CAITLIN CLARK: I don't think I took many shots in the second half, maybe three or four. They played pretty good defense on me. But at the same time my teammates were scoring the ball pretty well, so I was looking for them more, and I knew that's how we were going to win the game. It couldn't be just me and Monika. It had to be other people.

So I think getting them involved was important, but I take pride in doing a lot of different things for this team, and I think that's what helps me distribute. That's, rebounding that's huge as well and when I get the rebound and we push in transition I think that's when we're really good as well.

But obviously the assist part we take a lot of pride in having those assists so that's something we all talk about every single day. 20 assists is pretty good as well so that's awesome to see.

Q. Coach alluded to it in the opening statement but you guys had three games against Northwestern this year, two tough ones and obviously tonight. Do you think that they are kind of a tournament-caliber team and do you think that they deserve an at-large bid?

CAITLIN CLARK: Certainly I do. I think they do deserve an at-large bid. I think Coach McKeown is one of the best coaches in the country. I have a lot of respect for him. He's a very nice guy and I think Veronica Burton is one of the best players in the country, so why wouldn't you want to put her on the best stage of women's college basketball.

And I have a lot of respect for how she plays the game and not only is she a great basketball player but she's a great person, a great competitor, and I love going up against her, and obviously they make things challenging for me and this team every single time we play.

So we knew it was going to be a battle tonight but you know it's the Big Ten tournament. It's March. That's what you love about it and it was fun.

Q. Can you speak to the patience that you had have on offense when you play them, just kind of how things slowly evolved your guys' way over the course of the four quarters?

MONIKA CZINANO: They do a really good job of making us work our offense, which obviously we, our style of basketball is playing really fast pace trying to get everything in transition and then setting it up. So it is a challenge and their defense is something unlike any other team you see in the Big Ten. So every time we have to go against them it's an adjustment to the scout and it's something new. So it is challenging to go up against them, but they're a great team and what they do is spectacular.

Q. Obviously nationally (no microphone). When I saw you play today you were a floor general from left to right. You got everybody involved. Even before you started shooting you were aggressive on both ends of the floor.

CAITLIN CLARK: I think that's something this team needs. Obviously as a point guard you're kind of an extension of the coach on the floor and there's a lot of different things you have to manage at the same time, like seeing the clock, knowing where teammates are, what play we're running, what the defense is running.

So there is a lot of different things and I'm still learning. I'm only a sophomore and obviously there's learning moments. Seven turnovers is too many tonight. But I think that's something I take pride in, being able to lead this team and communicate all the time. I think obviously there's still room for growth in certain areas, but yeah, I think leading it is a huge part of being a point guard as well.

Q. It was great to see you at Big Ten media days. Question for you, outside of basketball tell us a little bit about Caitlin and Monika in real life? What are you passionate about, what charities do you support? Who are you?

CAITLIN CLARK: I think a big one for me all through high school, I was really involved in Special Olympics, I love that. Obviously my passion of inspiring the next generation and then obviously sports involved with that as well, that was a huge one for me, and I think it just combines two things that I love and it's an easy thing for me to support.

MONIKA CZINANO: Yeah, it's kind of happening right now in Iowa, but a couple student-athletes and I are in the process of making like an LGBT club for student-athletes that's been a long time in the making, long overdue, but that's kind of in the works now and something I'm really excited about.

Q. When you played Indiana in the past you had Nicole Cardaño-Hillary on you a few times, she was on the Big Ten all-defensive team. You played a lot of great defensive guards with like with Veronica tonight, with Nicole what kind of matchup does she bring, if you can kind of remember that a little bit.

CAITLIN CLARK: I think obviously a very aggressive guard, kind of always up in your grill, has great hands, great quickness. Obviously like I never really bring the ball the entire game, because she was guarding full court the entire game, so definitely one of the best defenders in the Big Ten and a lot of respect for how she plays and I think her aggression and how quick she is and her reflexes are really what sets her apart.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you ladies, you can go back to your locker room. We'll continue with coach.

Q. Is this a team that now has earned a top 16 overall seed?

LISA BLUDER: Without doubt. This is a team that I feel should be hosting. I'm excited about the opportunity because Hawk fans are amazing. And we just had 15,000 at our last game, the last time we hosted we broke the NCAA record for most attended ever in women's basketball for the first and second round, over 23,000. I know attendance isn't supposed to be a part of it, but how can you not, I mean, even if we were on the edge of that give it to one of the most exciting places in women's basketball across the country.

Q. You mentioned it earlier, but the effort that Kate had in the third quarter there, what did that do just from a kind of a mental boost for everybody coming down the stretch there?

LISA BLUDER: What was the first part of that?

Q. Just Kate's --

LISA BLUDER: Kate's play. Kate was outstanding today. Obviously in her season highs and assists and points but it was more than that it was her level headedness, her defense, she ran our offense and what we were trying to accomplish. She passed the ball well. She just Kate's always been the glue -- and people overlook Kate, she is, she holds this team together. She's our captain, she's our leader, she's somebody we look to. I'm really proud of Kate and what she brings to our team.

Q. For the last five years you've had four players who were Big Ten conference Player of the Year. That's incredible for a coach. So just kind of diving into that how special that is, it's not about national recognition, but it's about bringing everybody and just bringing different pieces into one to make that team better going forward.

LISA BLUDER: We're extremely happy that four of the last five years we've had the Big Ten Player of the Year. This one's only a sophomore. So that bodes well for the future. But what I think is really remarkable is that two times it was a center and now two times it's been a point guard. So it's not just one position. Like I know people are trying to recruit against us and say, Oh, they just coach centers and then Kathleen comes and she's Big Ten Player of the Year. So I'm proud that they are in different positions, it just shows that we can coach wherever you are.

Q. It's been so nice to see the efforts on behalf of the Big Ten and Commissioner Warren to really promote women and girls in sports this year. I see it with Coach Whelan and her 3.5 cumulative GPA, I see it with the young ladies you have today, you're clearly doing an amazing job. What are you doing different to build whole and complete athletes because you're doing a great job.

LISA BLUDER: We also had over a 3.5 grade point average, so I will point that out. You know, I'm so proud of the type of women that we have on our basketball team. They do such a great job in the classroom, they play the game the way it's supposed to be played and yet they're incredible role models. And they are very active on the campus and being good role models and in our schools. And it's really nice that COVID's over so we can start doing more of those type of things. Caitlin has the national attention and every little girl that wants an autograph she's going to give her one because she wants to inspire that next generation. She was that girl and she knows she was that girl and she wants to be that role model and give that inspiration to the next person. And I can say that about every single woman on our team I'm really, really proud of them. I think we do a really good job of working hard at culture and I think it shows on our team.

Q. Another question for Caitlin about Caitlin maybe on the court. This was the kind of game where she had a tough defensive assignment, but she found other ways to impact the game and I'm curious about how important is that particularly going forward in the tournament where she's going to probably get a lot of tough defensive assignments?

LISA BLUDER: Caitlin has gotten defensive attention all year long, it's not unusual by any means. I think Northwestern's kind of different, the defense that they play, it clogs up the middle, it clogs up her drives and they do a good job of that. But I think she's been getting double teamed all year long, lots of help, so it's nothing unusual. And I was really glad that she calmed down. She made some turnovers in the first half that are, that we didn't need her to obviously make and so she cleaned it up, she hit some huge threes that kept us going in the first half. In the second half she just decided to rebound and distribute the ball. So she doesn't always only have to be the scorer. I know she leads the country in scoring, but she also leads the scoring in assists and people forget that about her she's also our leading rebounder so she does a lot of things besides scoring.

Q. You guys held Northwestern to 22 percent from the floor in the second half, what kind of changed going into the second half for you guys on the defensive end?

LISA BLUDER: I think that Gabbie did a great job trying to keep the ball out of Veronica's hands. She had 16 at half and only ended up with nine in the second half. So and she took 24 shots. She had to work hard for the shots that she got. So I do think that we did a good job of that. We let their shooters get open a little bit in the first half on help situations and I think we cleaned that up in the second half. They obviously got too many O boards. We were doing a better job of that in the first half and they got too many in the second half. But I think Monika also put herself in a position to help a lot in the paint on Burton coming off those ball screens.

Q. Offensively hard for Monika to be more efficient than she was. What did you see from her?

LISA BLUDER: You know, that kid's amazing. Caitlin gets a lot of attention and it's she should. But Monika Czinano, she led the country in field goal percentage shooting last year and, I mean, I don't know how people forget that. She led the country in field goal percentage shooting. And she's right up there again this year. 9-12 she probably thinks that's a bad night. She just is an amazing scorer, she's so efficient, she uses her body so well to protect the ball when she gets it in her hand, she's got great hands, and Addison's coming along as a backup post player too so we're excited about the future of our inside game. With Monika announcing that she's going to come back for her COVID senior year, we're pretty excited about that.

Q. Obviously you'll be taking on either Nebraska or Michigan for the third time tomorrow. What do you anticipate from each of those teams?

LISA BLUDER: Well if we play Michigan we just played them, so that would be an easier scout since we just played them last Sunday. It's kind of nice because that's still in the players' minds.

Nebraska, we played them earlier in the year and so we played them kind of almost back-to-back games and it was right at the beginning of the year, so it's not as much in our minds. So our players need to watch this game, the first half at least, and then go back and get ready for the scout. At this time of year I don't think people can really change a lot. You just can't, right? I mean, you've had three months to do that. So it's not like anybody's going to get, we have all these new plays or anything, I think it's just going out and executing, who can recover tonight quickly, who can get that rest and eat and mentally get ready. It becomes a mental game as well as a physical game as you go along in this tournament, just because it is wearing going through scout after scout hopefully another scout.