Tag: Lisa Bluder

Lisa Bluder celebrates Iowa’s warrior, Kate Martin

After her late-game heroics and toughness in the Hawkeyes’ win vs. UConn, Lisa Bluder and Iowa paid homage to its “warrior,” Kate Martin.

As The Glue typically does, graduate guard Kate Martin came up with several massive plays down the stretch of the Iowa Hawkeyes‘ Final Four win over UConn.

Martin scored six fourth-quarter points on a pair of fadeaway jumpers and a driving floater. The 6-foot guard’s first fadeaway jumper came with 6:25 remaining to put Iowa up by seven, 64-57, as Martin faded away from UConn guard Paige Bueckers.

Then, in the game’s final three minutes, Martin came up with back-to-back key buckets that gave the Hawkeyes a six-point lead on each offensive trip.

Martin netted another fadeaway jumper over UConn’s Bueckers as she drove to the block, pivoted and faded away, sinking the fallaway jumper to put Iowa in front, 68-62, with 2:57 remaining.

On Iowa’s ensuing possession, Martin took the basketball on a handoff from fifth-year guard Gabbie Marshall. She drove and spun past UConn defender Ashlynn Shade, floating home to put the Hawkeyes in front, 70-64, with 2:14 left to play.

All of this came after Martin’s nose was bloodied by UConn forward Aaliyah Edwards’ elbow on Edwards’ basket that tied the basketball game at 47 apiece with 2:19 remaining in the third quarter. Martin fell to the floor in a heap and spent a brief moment being attended to in Iowa’s locker room.

Of course, Martin returned and authored several of the game’s biggest plays for the Hawkeyes. Martin finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and a pair of steals against the Huskies.

Afterward, Iowa head women’s basketball coach Lisa Bluder tipped her cap to her captain’s toughness and magical playmaking.

“Kate Martin, what a warrior. That kid, she was not going to be denied in that fourth quarter. Some of those takes she had to the basket, turnarounds, strong jumpers.

“I don’t know what happened to her nose. But, we obviously all saw a lot of blood. That poor kid has broken her nose I think every single year she’s been at Iowa. But, she’s a warrior, she’s a leader, she’s the heart and soul of our team,” Bluder said.

Iowa senior guard Caitlin Clark likewise applauded Martin’s resiliency and how the Edwardsville, Ill, native encapsulates what it means to be a Hawkeye.

“Well, poor Kate has gone quite a while without breaking her nose and having blood gush out of it. And then, in one of her last career games, she’s on the floor and she has hurt her nose again. I don’t know if it’s broken or not, but I think Kate’s just toughness, resiliency and leadership is the biggest thing. You see it, Kate’s a pro player. You see her game, she’s hitting fadeaway jump shots, she’s going at people.

“The way she took over at the end of the fourth, she came up with, I think, six straight points for us. I’m just so proud of her. She’s worked so hard over the course of this offseason. She knew she was going to be a focal point for us on offense, and I couldn’t be more proud of her. She’s had a long career. All she’s ever dreamed of is being an Iowa Hawkeye, and she embodies that every single day,” Clark said.

With one more performance like what Martin authored against UConn, Iowa just might be cutting down the nets in Cleveland as the national champion.

Iowa will battle South Carolina for the national championship at 2 p.m. CT on ABC from inside Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

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Lisa Bluder earns massive bonuses from Iowa’s Final Four trip

Coach Lisa Bluder earned these bonuses.

With the Hawkeyes‘ second straight Final Four trip, Iowa is one of the toasts of the women’s college basketball world.

Thanks to the play of superstar senior guard Caitlin Clark and the Hawkeyes’ talented supporting cast, Iowa (33-4, 15-3 Big Ten) is off to Cleveland and Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse to battle UConn (33-5, Big East).

The winner will battle either South Carolina or North Carolina State for the national championship.

After another one of her patented offensive explosions, Clark is naturally at the center of the sports world’s conversation. Clark erupted for 41 points, an NCAA Tournament record-tying nine made 3-pointers and 12 assists to register her 67th career double-double.

As has been the case when Iowa has played its best basketball, Clark benefited from key contributions from her teammates. Graduate guard Kate Martin scored 21 points and grabbed six rebounds.

Junior guard Sydney Affolter continued her strong play, too. Since being inserted into Iowa’s starting lineup following Molly Davis’ injury, Affolter has been nothing short of sensational for the Hawkeyes.

Affolter knocked down a pair of 3-pointers, finished with 16 points and added five rebounds.

As Iowa reaches another Final Four, the Hawkeye players aren’t the only ones reaping the recognition and rewards.

Per Front Office Sports, thanks to the Hawkeyes’ latest Final Four trip, Iowa head women’s basketball coach Lisa Bluder has earned $300,000 in bonuses this season. Bluder also earned a $150,000 raise beginning next season and she activated an automatic two-year contract extension.

Bluder’s status as Iowa’s most successful women’s basketball coach was never in question. The longtime head Hawkeye entered this season as Iowa’s all-time wins leader. But, this latest tournament run only cements that status in Iowa City and should help propel the program’s national reputation for years to come.

Just as Caitlin Clark helped morph Iowa City into college basketball’s epicenter, Bluder deserves all sorts of credit for elevating the Hawkeyes’ program into this stratosphere.

It’s been fun to watch and Bluder has earned every penny of financial reverberations and job stability that is a result of her and the Hawkeyes’ successes.

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Iowa coach Lisa Bluder on rematch with LSU in Elite Eight

Before the heralded matchup, Lisa Bluder commented on how she felt going into this game compared to the first.

[autotag]Kim Mulkey[/autotag] and the LSU Tigers have again made their way to the Elite Eight. This year, they have a matchup against the team they beat for the national title a year ago, the Iowa Hawkeyes. LSU beat UCLA in the Sweet 16 to make it to the Elite Eight, and the Hawkeyes beat Colorado to make it.

The two biggest stars in NCAA women’s basketball, [autotag]Caitlin Clark[/autotag] and [autotag]Angel Reese[/autotag] will go at it once more with a shot in the final four on the line. Before the heralded matchup, the Hawkeyes head coach, [autotag]Lisa Bluder[/autotag], commented on how she felt going into this game compared to the last.

“Yeah, we got run out of the gym last year,” Bluder said postgame, per On3. “So you know, it was pretty bad. But you know, honestly, we try to keep, just keep looking straight ahead and not listen to the outside noise and I think my team has done a good job of staying off social media. Try not to get caught up in that. I think when you get caught up in all that, now it takes your energy off the focus that you need at hand and that is to prepare for a really good LSU team. Nothing else matters.”

LSU and Iowa will tip off Monday at 6 p.m. CT.

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Lisa Bluder selects Hannah Stuelke to lead postseason celebration after big day vs. Colorado

Finalize that bracket, Hannah! After Hannah Stuelke’s big day vs. Colorado, Lisa Bluder selected her

After Iowa’s big win over Colorado in the Sweet 16, Hawkeye head women’s basketball coach Lisa Bluder made a point to celebrate sophomore forward Hannah Stuelke.

In the win over the Buffs, Stuelke recorded her third double-double of the season and the fourth of her career. The 6-foot-2 forward from Cedar Rapids scored 11 points and 10 rebounds.

As the Hawkeyes readied to toss the “Iowa” placard onto the big tournament bracket cutout in its locker room, Bluder singled out Stuelke’s day.

“This is so hard, because, I mean, you guys, honestly, anybody, I could pick anybody to do this, but I’m going to pick Hannah and I’m going to tell you why. She had a double-double tonight and she held 21 to zero rebounds,” Bluder said as Stuelke’s teammates erupted.

Of course, No. 21 for Colorado is talented junior center Aaronette Vonleh. The 6-foot-3 center for CU finished with 13 points and five rebounds, but she had zero offensive rebounds. Vonleh came in averaging 1.8 offensive rebounds per game.

Stuelke’s work on the defensive glass was certainly exceptional. It helped Iowa get out and run as the Hawkeyes were able to set the tempo of the game and keep the Buffs from a plethora of second-chance opportunities.

Iowa (32-4, 15-3 Big Ten) is moving on to the Elite Eight where it will battle defending national champion LSU (31-5, 13-3 SEC) for a return trip to the Final Four.

The contest will tip off on ESPN at 6:15 p.m. CT on Monday night from MVP Arena in Albany, N.Y.

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Lisa Bluder named Naismith Trophy Coach of the Year finalist

Give Coach the hardware!

Iowa head women’s basketball coach Lisa Bluder has been the architect of a number of wins for a number of years.

Under her leadership, the Hawkeyes have won 494 games overall during her tenure as Iowa’s head coach. Iowa has now captured the Big Ten Tournament championship three seasons in a row.

This season marks the second straight year that Iowa has surpassed the 30-win threshold and the eighth consecutive season that Bluder’s squads have won 20 or more games.

Iowa has advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 14 of the past 16 seasons.

Thanks to Bluder’s stellar coaching, Iowa (31-4, 15-3 Big Ten) earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the third time in program history. Now, after a pair of wins last weekend, the Hawkeyes are in the Sweet 16 for the 10th time in program history and for the fifth time under coach Bluder.

As a result, Bluder is being recognized nationally. The Hawkeye head coach was named as one of four finalists for the Naismith Trophy Coach of the Year.

This marks the consecutive season that Bluder has been named as a Naismith Trophy Coach of the Year finalist. Bluder won the award back in 2019.

Bluder joins South Carolina’s Dawn Staley, Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer and USC‘s Lindsay Gottlieb as a finalist.

Iowa gets underway in the Sweet 16 versus Colorado at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday on ABC from MVP Arena in Albany, N.Y.

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ESPN names Iowa Hawkeyes’ Lisa Bluder as its Coach of the Week

Lisa Bluder had her team ready to go for two Big Ten tilts. ESPN named her as its Coach of the Week after the Hawkeyes’ strong performances.

Lisa Bluder has a supremely talented roster, but that can only take you so far. Every team runs into a squad with just as much talent or a team that is shooting lights out against you. At that point, the difference can be how well a team is coached.

The Iowa Hawkeyes are among the best-coached teams in the nation. Lisa Bluder knows how to win games, adapt on the fly and get the most from her squads. The strong showing this past week by the Hawkeyes has ESPN naming her as its Coach of the Week.

Coach of the Week: Lisa Bluder, Iowa

Sure, Bluder had a lot of players return from last season, starting with Clark, but she lost two key starters and has had to rely on some younger, less-experienced players to fill big roles.

The Hawkeyes are again competing for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Bluder has allowed Clark to soar while fostering a strong team chemistry. And the leader in Big Ten women’s hoops coaching victories got her first win at Maryland on Saturday. – Michael Voepel, ESPN

Bluder has the Hawkeyes 21-2 overall and 10-1 in Big Ten play. Iowa is trending toward a top seed in the NCAA Tournament and Big Ten regular season and tournament titles. Bluder has her work cut out for her, but she has her players confident and sometimes that is all that matters.

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Lisa Bluder previews 2023-24 season at Big Ten Media Days

Iowa head women’s basketball coach Lisa Bluder shared her thoughts on the Hawkeyes ahead of the season from 2023 Big Ten Media Days.

Fresh off a magical run to the national championship game, Iowa women’s basketball is anxious to start another run after championships.

The Hawkeyes march through the NCAA Tournament actually began with a sprint to the 2023 Big Ten Tournament crown. By the time Caitlin Clark and Iowa were finished, the whole nation was buzzing about Hawkeye basketball.

Now, as Clark inked another NIL deal just before the onset of the 2023-24 women’s basketball season, it’s officially time to turn the page.

Obviously, returning the consensus National Player of the Year in Clark is a great place to start. The 6-foot guard set all sorts of records in last year’s NCAA Tournament and finished with season averages of 27.8 points, 8.6 assists and 7.1 rebounds per game.

She will be joined by fellow returning starters in guards Gabbie Marshall and Kate Martin. That duo combined to average 13.9 points per game and each shot better than 37.9% from 3-point range last season.

Iowa also brings back the Big Ten’s Sixth Player of the Year in sophomore forward Hannah Stuelke, who averaged 6.5 points and 3.9 rebounds in just 12.9 minutes per game.

With Iowa’s Crossover At Kinnick scrimmage versus DePaul slated for this Sunday on Big Ten Network at 2 p.m. CT, Iowa head women’s basketball coach Lisa Bluder and company descended upon a familiar scene to preview the season.

Accompanied by stars Clark, Marshall and Stuelke, Bluder and Iowa returned to the site of their Big Ten Tournament championship from last spring, the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn., to share thoughts on the upcoming season.

Here’s everything Bluder had to say from 2023 Big Ten Media Days.

Lisa Bluder: Iowa Hawkeyes’ transfer portal salary cap ‘wasn’t as good’ as its competition

Lisa Bluder shared one of the reasons why Iowa didn’t land a player out of the transfer portal. Its “salary cap wasn’t as good.”

As the Iowa women’s basketball program readies for its foreign overseas trip at the end of next week, head coach Lisa Bluder took time out to meet with the media.

One of the items Bluder discussed was why Iowa didn’t add a player out of the transfer portal.

After an historic run to the NCAA Tournament’s national championship game, the nation wondered how Iowa would replace key players such as forward McKenna Warnock and center Monika Czinano. With the national player of the year, Caitlin Clark, returning alongside a talented nucleus, Iowa looked like an obvious landing spot for other stars that put their name into the NCAA’s transfer portal.

There were talented names in the portal, too. Former Louisville guard Hailey Van Lith entered. Former DePaul and Stanford bigs Aneesah Morrow and Lauren Betts did as well.

Then, a weird thing happened. None of those three — or anyone else — transferred to Iowa City.

Instead, both Van Lith and Morrow transferred to the team that topped Iowa in the national championship game in the LSU Tigers. Meanwhile, Betts went from Stanford to UCLA.

Bluder commented on why it didn’t work out for the Hawkeyes.

“There’s like a thousand people in the portal and about 10 of them are good enough to play for us. I mean, they’re in the portal because they weren’t getting playing time, right? That’s why they’re usually in the portal.

“And then we really couldn’t get a one, two or three because we’re so heavy at that position. So, we were really only looking at four and five and now it takes you down to about three kids in the country, and, quite honestly, our salary cap wasn’t as good as the other people’s. You know, that’s what it comes down to for a lot of kids that are in the portal: They want a lot of money,” Bluder said.

It’s really not a surprise to hear Bluder point toward name, image and likeness opportunities as a difference-maker in transfer portal recruitments. It’s the not-so-secret reality of where college athletics finds itself.

The good news for the Hawkeyes is they have a very talented roster even without a transfer portal addition. Beginning with its three-game overseas trip, Iowa gets a jumpstart on the 2023-24 women’s college basketball season.

The Hawkeyes will leave for Southern Italy and Croatia on Aug. 4 and return home on Aug. 16.

Bluder touched on a number of other topics as well. Here’s everything else Bluder had to say with Hawkeye Report and the rest of the Iowa reporters.

 

Iowa will have to overcome these LSU stats to become national champions

In order to become national champions, Iowa will need to overcome these LSU stats.

Iowa women’s basketball finally did it! Your Hawkeyes are heading to their first national championship game! They became the first team in over a year to beat defending national champion South Carolina.

Conventional box score knowledge would tell you the Gamecocks should have won this game. South Carolina had nearly double the rebounds as the Hawkeyes, 49-25, and made their money on second-chance points. In an extreme rarity, South Carolina had more offensive rebounds (26) than defensive rebounds.

The size advantage Dawn Staley’s squad held over the Hawkeyes was evident. At times, South Carolina made Iowa look like middle schoolers in comparison to the Monstars wearing red.

Despite getting vastly outrebounded and not even shooting lights out from deep, the Hawkeyes were pulled out this tight contest. Caitlin Clark led the way with a Kobe-like 41-point performance, aided by the threat of Iowa’s shooters to hit from downtown. Those 3s didn’t always fall, but South Carolina knew it couldn’t just leave lethal shooters such as Gabbie Marshall open from 3.

It was a David vs. Goliath performance for Lisa Bluder’s squad, and they’it will have to do it again if it hopes to become national champions. The LSU Tigers also possess great size. Ten players are listed as 5-foot-10 or taller, and the Tigers are led by dominant big Angel Reese.

Prior to the start of the Final Four, the Tigers averaged 16 more rebounds than their opponents on a given night. LSU ranked third nationally in total rebounds and offensive rebounds per game behind just Troy and South Carolina. The Tigers came into Dallas averaging 46.6 rebounds and 17.1 offensive boards per contest.

LSU is another team that looks to beat up its opponent inside, opting to drive and crash the glass rather than settling for the jumper. The Tigers have not shot particularly well in recent tournament games, but have played tough defense and dominated the glass. Just like SC, they will make you work for every single bucket, every single rebound.

If Iowa can hold its own on the glass — particularly the offensive glass — the Hawkeyes are likely going to be cutting down nets in Dallas and hoisting a national championship trophy.

It all takes place at 2:30 CT on ABC.

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The show goes on! Takeaways from Hawkeyes’ historic Final Four win to advance to title game

The song keeps on playing and the Hawks keep on dancing! The biggest takeaways from Iowa’s historic Final Four win to advance to the title.

Every team wants the chance to take its shot at the top team, the team no one else can figure out — the team that is supposed to be dominant.

The Iowa Hawkeyes earned that chance against the South Carolina Gamecocks in the Final Four.

The Hawkeyes didn’t flinch.

Iowa jumped to a quick lead, showed it wanted to give everything and them some to South Carolina and proved it had every right to play for a national title. From the first quarter onward, Iowa weathered every run the Gamecocks thew at them and responded with one of their own. The Hawkeyes took down the team no one was supposed to beat.

Iowa’s 77-73 win was a heavyweight boxing fight with two powerhouses trading blows back and forth. It exceeded the lofty expectations America had set for it.

The effort by the Hawkeyes was incredible in every sense of the word from all sorts of contributors. Here are the biggest takeaways from the Hawkeyes’ historic Final Four win.