BIG TEN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 5, 2022

Lisa Bluder

Caitlin Clark

Kate Martin

Gainbridge Fieldhouse

Iowa Hawkeyes

Postgame Press Conference

Iowa - 83, Nebraska - 66

THE MODERATOR: We'll start with an opening statement.

LISA BLUDER: Obviously we're pretty excited to be playing in the Big Ten tournament championship for two years in a row. We know we have a good opponent tomorrow with Indiana. We've played them a lot lately and they just keep getting better.

But I want to focus on tonight right now before I shift my focus to Indiana. And tonight really proud of our defensive effort. Our three-point defense was really good tonight. They came in and they have been shooting the ball really well from the three-point range in the first two games and tonight they shot 11 percent from three-point range. So really happy with that.

I think Kate is just playing her best basketball. She's strong going to the hoop, rebounding well, passing well. Caitlin was just Caitlin tonight. That's pretty fun when she's -- she's a special player and she just continues to show on this. She loves this kind of stage and playing in front of this kind of environment. So that was fun.

I thought Monika played very well. 9-11 shooting, really happy with that as well. But anyway it's a great feeling to be in the championship.

THE MODERATOR: Questions for the players?

Q. Caitlin, big night. We have seen this before. You seem to have great angles on your defenders all night and you rubbed some people really good to get to the basket. Do you want to talk a little bit about what you were perceiving out there on defense and how you were angling to get your shots?

CAITLIN CLARK: Yeah. I think in the first half I kind of missed a couple bunnies that I should have usually made. And especially in the second half that was my goal to get to the rim early and I thought I was a little more patient and kind of used my eyes and shot faked a little because they were expecting me to shoot it a little there to start the second half.

But, yeah, once I got that edge I'm pretty good at using my body to shield them off in a way. I think that's just a lot of credit to coaches, my position coach. That's what we worked on all summer is a lot of contact finishing and that's how it is in the Big Ten. It's a physical league and we don't just want to get fouled. We want to have the and one, so.

Q. Caitlin, I know you guys have faith in your offensive product all the way through and in any circumstance, but the way this unit has evolved over the course of the year and to now really the last two weeks kind of putting the best product on the floor, how much confidence and trust was there at halftime that, after that first half that things would kind of start going your way more.

CAITLIN CLARK: Yeah. I think we kind of knew that the first half wasn't our best. We were winning by three points but we knew we could be so much better. That's what we talked about before the coaches came in. Like, it wasn't our best, but we have a whole second half to kind of turn that around and I think that's exactly what we did. We got more people involved. Our defense was pretty tremendous there. We guarded the three-point line really, really well and that was our first key to the game. We knew that was going to be super important for us coming in. I thought we did that really well.

And then obviously getting buckets in transition is huge, Monika shooting the ball like she does. And I just think we had so many weapons and I think Kate Martin is playing the best basketball of her career right now and she doesn't get enough credit. But she does a lot of dirty work. But tonight obviously the way she shot it 4-7 is pretty good.

But I think it's nice. She has this kind of feeling after those 15 points in the second half last game, I guess. But no, we're playing our best basketball right now especially on the offensive end, but I think our defense has been pretty good as well.

Q. Caitlin, you had 31 points each time that you played Nebraska in the regular season. Now 41. What is it about Nebraska?

CAITLIN CLARK: I don't know if it's really anything about them. Obviously I know I can score against them coming in and I think that's kind of something, you look back and you kind of know what they give you and know what they don't give you.

But obviously I think I kind of got going there in the second quarter, or the second half, especially in the third quarter there, got some easy looks. And credit to my teammates finding me. I know Monika hit me a couple of times on the flat play at the end of shot clock, which is huge for us. I made some big shots and got some and ones.

But I wouldn't say it's really anything specifically that they do, obviously I know I can score points. But, yeah, I wouldn't say it's anything specifically. Obviously we go back and watch the film but they have kind of evolved over the season as well, so we kind of just focused on the last two games that they played. And overall it just was Iowa basketball more than anything.

Q. Last game you guys won that one. It looks like all, it was six or seven players that had double figures. It's going to be a tough competition. What's the adjustment and what should we be looking forward to obviously for the championship?

KATE MARTIN: We know Indiana's a great team. We've played them twice already. Playing them three times, yeah, it will be tough, but we're just going to do what we've done in the past. We're going to stop some of their key players and then we're going to try to get easy looks like we normally do and we're just going to play Iowa basketball which is what we always go into the games doing.

Q. Kate, you had 11 rebounds and 8 points tonight. Talk about your confidence through this game.

KATE MARTIN: Yeah. I mean, it kind of helps when you have a star players like Monika and Caitlin. It opens up the floor for me a little bit. But more than anything just pursuing the ball for rebounds. We talk about crashing all the time and I kind of got away from that these last past few games.

And so that's really just been my mindset going into games is just crashing and getting rebounds. So, yeah, I think I've been playing some good basketball right now. I'm really confident and, yeah, I'm just looking forward to tomorrow.

Q. Kate, six of your points came in the first quarter when things were still kind of choppy and trying to find a rhythm, and that's really the second straight night where your production has come when things aren't really working that well around you. How much are those moments kind of what you embrace when you can kind of slide in and get that boost when everybody else around you is kind of figuring things out still?

KATE MARTIN: Yeah. Like I said, people are really focused on Caitlin and Monika all the time and even Gabbie and McKenna. They're all great shooters, so when I can get the ball and take it to the hoop I just do it and I happened to make some of them and it's pretty fun.

Q. One for Caitlin and one for coach. Caitlin, can you talk about being in the final for a second year in a row and your thoughts about maybe what you learned from last year's final? And, Coach, now we have two Hawkeyes have three of the top four performances in Big Ten tournament history with Megan having the top two and Caitlin. Can you, I know they're two different players, obviously, but just, they have been such a big factor in terms of the tournament in recent years. If you could just sort of talk about that.

CAITLIN CLARK: Yeah. Obviously getting back to the championship, that was our goal. That's what we wanted and I think this team's done a tremendous job of, it was great winning the regular season title last week, but we wanted to come in here and get another and obviously we're one step away from that.

And I think the biggest thing that's going to play to our advantage tomorrow is obviously we had a double bye and Indiana didn't. So I think using that to our advantage and last year we didn't have a double bye. We knew how exhausting that was coming into that game. And it's hard to play four games in four days. It's hard to play three games in three days.

So I think just taking care of your body and really using that to the best of our advantage tomorrow. But Indiana's a tremendous team. It's hard to beat a team twice and it's really hard to beat them three times, but we're excited for the matchup and it's going to be a fun one. Both games with them have been tremendous this year, so I know we're looking forward to it for sure.

LISA BLUDER: Yeah. I just think that four of the last five years we've had the Big Ten Player of the Year. We talked about that yesterday in this press conference, that four of the last five years. And that's exciting for our program.

But what we really love is they're different positions. Megan was a center. Obviously, Kathleen was a point guard. Caitlin's a point guard. It's not like we're one dimensional. I think we do a really good job of identifying our talent and putting them in a position to score and to be successful.

So, proud of all those women. Obviously I'm proud of all of my women. But yeah, I just think that it really bodes well for Iowa women's basketball having those top 3 performances.

Q. Kate, you were on the team in 2019 when you won the Big Ten championship. What was that feeling like in 2019 and how are you going to go into tomorrow searching for it again?

KATE MARTIN: Yeah. I think getting there once before, how badly you want to get back and experience that again. There's not quite an experience, I never felt like that, besides maybe winning the regular season.

But that confetti coming down, it's just amazing. So I'm really looking, well, once we get there, you know, that's our plan and you know, we always want to go manifest that. We're all about that. So going into that and manifesting, seeing that confetti, and enjoying those moments with my teammates we really want to do that.

Q. After you manifest the win tomorrow, how would that feel to be the first Iowa team to win Big Ten both regular season and tournament titles?

CAITLIN CLARK: Obviously that would be tremendous. I think this team's done a really good job of enjoying all the highs that came with last Sunday, but looking forward to this Sunday and wanting to get to this Sunday. We really have gone, brought our focus on going 1-0 every single day. We came back to practice, had great practices, and I think that's a huge reason why we're in this spot going forward.

But obviously that would be huge for this program and I think it speaks a lot to what Coach Bluder has done here, and kind of what the girls before us have set in stone for us.

And I think we have been in the championship three out of the last four years? I know it's more than just two in a row. So, yeah, three of the last four years, that's tremendous, that speaks a lot to her and what she's done for this program and I mean, that's pretty awesome.

Q. The opportunity to rag on Caitlin for anything she does on the basketball court is very rare, but I have to ask about that effort to get the ball and stuff.

CAITLIN CLARK: The ball was stuck very hard. I hit it the first time. I literally had it. It was going to go in the rim. It was going to count for two points. I'm just kidding.

But, no, I hit it the first time. It was just stuck very hard so I thought I would try again and my knee didn't really quite work as I wanted it to. But, no, it was so funny.

THE MODERATOR: All right. Thank you. See you tomorrow. Take questions for coach.

Q. A couple questions. One, Monika has come out of Gustafson's shadow but she's her own player. How long do you think the process of following Megan, because she backed her up there for awhile while she was still at Iowa; and secondly, talk about your team. I know we got Caitlin, you got Monika, but your team helped win this game today.

LISA BLUDER: Absolutely. I mean, without Gabbie's defense we don't win this game. Addi played really well the first half when she went in for Monika. So we McKenna got in foul trouble. Tomi came in and did some really nice things for us. Kylie did as well.

So definitely, it doesn't always show up in points, but it shows up in other ways that we respect so much with these players. So it was definitely a team victory. Monika, she backed up Megan her first year at Iowa, and she was just like a sponge. She was one wanting to learn everything she could from Megan and I think the things that she learned the most were having a positive attitude all the time. I mean, just really, really just being, she's a kid of joy. I mean, it's so much fun to be around her. Working hard all the time and embracing that contact. And she's just extremely coachable. She saw Megan coming up and watching film all the time and Monika comes up and watches film all the time. She does her homework. So her first year she didn't get a whole lot of attention, but her second year I think she was fifth in the nation in field goal percentage shooting. Her junior year she led the country in field goal percentage shooting and I'm not sure where she is right now but she's right at the top. She's No. 3 in the country right now. So she obviously did a great job as a sponge that first year picking up things from her and again, Jan Jensen is our post coach, she does a tremendous job, I mean not just those two, we've had really good post players in the past and Jan's really tremendous.

Q. Another big third quarter, what did you see happen there?

LISA BLUDER: We shot the ball really well. We shot 75 percent from the field in the third quarter. We got some good looks, we got up and down the floor, we got to the rim, so we got some really good looks. And I thought our defense was very good in the second and fourth quarter. But I liked the way that our offense looked in the third.

Q. How does your program, your leadership change that perspective, that narrative, because what you guys have been able to accomplish the last 3-4, five years it's obviously outstanding.

LISA BLUDER: I think we give a player like Caitlin that just brings national attention to not only your school, the Big Ten, women's basketball, on a whole, and so I mean she's so good at handling the situation and also her teammates are great job with sharing that spotlight. We talk a lot about when the spotlight is shining on Caitlin it shines on us all. And it's not a bad thing. So sometimes it can be create jealousies in situations, but I just believe our team really understands it and handles it well, we talk about it a lot, but I really do like the attention that Caitlin is bringing because she's a tremendous role model that she's bringing to women's basketball nationally and to our university.

Q. Caitlin was obviously tremendous tonight with 41 points. The one thing that she's done the last couple games is turn it over early in the game. What's your message going to be for her going into tomorrow just to get her off on the right start?

LISA BLUDER: Yeah, I think she's a little geeked to start out. She's just a little hyper. She loves playing this game and especially Big Ten tournament, so I definitely have to calm her down before the game and try to slow her down a little bit before the game because I think she had six turnovers in the first half which is way too many. Maybe seven. I don't know. Six or seven in the first half. Way too many. And so she's a better passer than that, she was trying to force a little bit of things. But once she settles down she's fine, we need to get her to settle down a little quicker.

Q. Caitlin mentioned three times in the last four years being in the title game. When you have big March aspirations, hosting tournament games, going deep in the tournament, I feel like the conference tournament can sometimes be an odd place in things in terms of getting ready for it. But what has this weekend done over the last few years in getting your best product on the floor when the season's in its most important stretch?

LISA BLUDER: I think, I mean in the Big Ten tournament it's pressure, right? You're playing with pressure because you want that trophy, you want to cut down the nets again. It's different from the Big Ten regular season where it's like that obviously is, you know, the body of work of the whole year. There's pressure here because it's win or go home, right? And so I think that's good for the NCAA, it prepares you for that, it gives you that tournament atmosphere, that tournament feeling, that I think prepares you for the NCAA Tournament. I do like having a little bit of time off between this tournament and that one, so you can reset, heal, get rested, because you play three games in three days and that's a pretty brutal on your body.

Q. You mentioned Tomi earlier. Obviously she went to high school here in Indianapolis. What have you seen from her over the course of her career at Iowa?

LISA BLUDER: Tomi will bring us anything we need. If we need a big bucket she's there to score that big three for us. She takes what the defense gives her. She doesn't force anything. She doesn't make mistakes, she plays good defense. It's just like Tomi just plays her role so well. I mean, is it a role she loves coming off the bench? Probably not. Everybody wants to be a starter, right. But she embraces her role, she knows she brings us that spark off the bench and we can count on her because she just really doesn't make mistakes.

Q. You're now set for a third game against Indiana this season. You've been in the Big Ten for a long time. I mean how far has that IU program come and talk about the job Teri has done there?

LISA BLUDER: Teri has done a fabulous job. Honestly, they used to be at the bottom of the Big Ten. And I mean she's recruited well, she's an excellent coach, she runs great sets. It looks like their team has really great chemistry and a good culture. So I have a lot of respect for Teri and what she's done in building this program up.

Q. To segue off that, you're going to be in Indiana tomorrow, against Indiana, and a massive crowd that came in today from Bloomington and Indianapolis. How are you going to get your girls kind of set for that?

LISA BLUDER: Yeah, I mean it's obviously an advantage for them to be so close. But when we played at their place I think there was nine, 10,000 people there. It was their senior day, it was their last home game. That was a big deal. That was a big night. And our players handled it. So I think they will be able to handle this one as well.

Q. Not sure if you ever played a team three times in two weeks over your career. Just how will that kind of shape things or not shape things as you get ready for it and maybe will the short window kind of prevent over complicating things going through the previous two matchups that just happened?

LISA BLUDER: Yeah, I mean, it just makes your scout a little bit easier, but we still have now like three games that we need to have them scouted and watched since we played them last time. But it just makes a little bit easier because people haven't changed a lot from last time. There's not an advantage for one team or the other, in my opinion. I do think that Holmes has gotten healthier over the last week, she looks like she's playing much stronger, much more confidently than the first time, I mean even from first time to second time, 48 hours, difference, I thought she looked better and I think she's looked better in this tournament. So she's a great player, Monika's going to have her hands full with her. Patberg had a really good game today. Grace Berger, I just, I love her game, she's so good. Nicole is an unbelievable defensive player. We have a lot to prepare for, but at this point you're not going to change a lot up, you got 24 hours. So now it really become as mental scout, knowing your personnel, and getting some rest as much as you can.