Tag: Lisa Bluder

Updating a flurry of recent Iowa women’s basketball summer 2022 offers

Iowa women’s basketball added Central Michigan transfer Molly Davis last month. Now, they’re busy on the recruiting trail with six offers.

It’s a great time to be a fan of Iowa women’s basketball. The Hawkeyes enter the 2022-23 women’s college basketball season after a 24-8 season that included a share of the Big Ten regular season championship and the Big Ten Tournament title.

Of course, Iowa returns one of the frontrunners for national player of the year honors in point guard Caitlin Clark. The 6-foot junior from West Des Moines just capped a season where she led Division I in both points and assists per game with averages of 27 points and eight assists per contest.

In the process, Clark became the first women’s college basketball player to accomplish that feat. She also averaged eight rebounds per contest.

Last season, she was named Big Ten Player of the Year, earned unanimous first-team All-Big Ten honors and also earned Big Ten Tournament MVP and was named to the Big Ten All-Tournament Team.

Clark was named the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year and was the Dawn Staley Guard of the Year Award recipient, becoming the first student-athlete to win the Dawn Staley Award in consecutive seasons. She was also a finalist for the Naismith Award, the WBCA Wade Trophy, the John R. Wooden Award and the Honda Sport Award.

Joining Clark is a nucleus of talented players that will have the Hawkeyes back in the mix for both of the Big Ten championships next season as well as one of the contenders for the national championships once the 2023 NCAA Tournament rolls around.

Forward Monika Czinano is back after registering averages of 21.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. Guards McKenna Warnock, Kate Martin and Gabbie Marshall all return as well. That trio averaged 11 points and 6.5 rebounds, 7.2 points and 6.8 points, respectively. Warnock and Marshall connected on 40.4% and 39.3% of their 3-point tries last season.

With all of that excitement in tow for the 2022-23 season, there’s really no better time than the present to parlay it into recruiting successes. Iowa head women’s basketball coach Lisa Bluder and her staff have stayed busy this offseason as they look to bolster this current roster and ensure exciting basketball stays in Iowa City for years to come.

Let’s take a look at an addition from last month to next season’s roster and break down six recent offers the Hawkeye staff has doled out.

Iowa’s Caitlin Clark ‘super honored’ to repeat as Dawn Staley Award winner

Iowa point guard Caitlin Clark reacted to becoming the first repeat Dawn Staley Award winner.

Iowa point guard Caitlin Clark was announced as the winner of the Dawn Staley Award last week. The honor is bestowed upon the most outstanding college guard in the country.

The West Des Moines, Iowa, native made history on the court this season as Clark led the nation in both scoring average and assists per game. Clark averaged 27 points and eight assists per game. She finished with 863 points and 257 assists on the season. As a result, Clark made history in women’s college basketball, too.

Clark became the first two-time winner and the first repeat winner of the Dawn Staley Award.

“Every winner has been a special player and a special person, but this year’s award is unique. In Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, we have the first ever two-time winner and Caitlin absolutely deserves it. A dynamic offensive player with shooting range the likes of which our game has never seen, Caitlin led the nation in both scoring and assists this season.

“She’s an absolute force, someone who is quite literally changing the way basketball is being played. She’s a winner, leading her team to the Big 10 Tournament Championship and a shared regular season title. And she’s also a terrific person, the type of player and the type of woman we can be proud to have as an ambassador for our game for years to come,” Staley said in a statement.

On Thursday, Clark was recognized in a virtual ceremony where Staley told her that she “transcends the sport.”

 

“Well, thank you coach Staley. I appreciate your kind words and thank you to the Phoenix Club of Philadelphia for putting this on and having me. I think our game is full of a lot of great guards. A lot of great posts, too, but I think there’s just so many tremendous guards all across the country and I think that’s really just great for our game in general. You can really see that it’s growing. I’m super honored to win this award once, but to win it twice in back to back years is super, super special.

“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for my coaches, my teammates. I love the University of Iowa. I love playing for coach (Lisa) Bluder, and, you know, we did a lot of really great things this year. It obviously didn’t end how we wanted it to, but, you know, I think there’s still a lot to be proud of. Big Ten champions twice. Hasn’t been done in the history of our program, so still a lot to be proud of but we want to come back, work harder and get even further, so that’ll be our goal. Thank you to my family. They supported me every step of the way,” Clark said during the virtual ceremony.

Clark will return for her junior season alongside star forward Monika Czinano. Iowa’s season ended in a second-round NCAA Tournament loss versus Creighton inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. With that duo back, the Hawkeyes will be one of the trendy picks to defend their Big Ten championships from this past season. In ESPN’s way-too-early top 25, Iowa checked in at No. 6.

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Iowa Hawkeyes women’s basketball ranked No. 6 in ESPN’s ‘way-too-early top 25’

The Iowa women’s basketball team checked in at No. 6 in ESPN’s way-too-early top 25 rankings for the 2022-23 season.

South Carolina’s Destanni Henderson knocked down 3-of-6 3-pointers and finished with 26 points. Meanwhile, national player of the year Aliyah Boston added 11 points and 16 rebounds as South Carolina toppled Connecticut, 64-49, in the women’s basketball national championship game.

The win represented the second championship in program history for the Gamecocks. It also signals the start of the offseason, which means it’s time to look at the first projections for an early top 25 for next season. ESPN’s Charlie Creme released his way-too-early top 25 rankings and Iowa checked in at No. 6.

The Hawkeyes return Naismith Trophy finalist Caitlin Clark. Clark averaged 27 points, eight assists and eight rebounds per game during the 2021-22 season. The 6-foot point guard out of West Des Moines, Iowa, led the nation in points per game average and total points on the season with 863.

Her eight assists per game average also led the country and she finished second nationally in total assists with 257. For her efforts, Clark was named the Nancy Lieberman and the Dawn Staley Point Guard of the Year. Clark was also named the Big Ten Player of the Year and the Big Ten Tournament MVP.

Iowa brings back one of the best forwards in the country for the 2022-23 season, too. Senior forward Monika Czinano elected to run it back with Clark and company. Czinano averaged 21.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. During the NCAA Tournament, Czinano had 18 points and seven rebounds against Illinois State and 27 points and six rebounds versus Creighton. She connected on 18-of-26 field goal attempts during the tournament.

The loss to Creighton in the second round of the NCAA tournament was devastating. It could have been more devastating had that been Monika Czinano’s last game. The decision by the nation’s field goal percentage leader to use her extra year of eligibility to once again pair with Clark, the nation’s leader in scoring and assists, is enough to make the Hawkeyes a threat for bigger things than just a Big Ten title. – Creme, ESPN.

Creme rated defending national champion South Carolina No. 1, the national runner-up Connecticut No. 2, Stanford No. 3, Texas No. 4 and Maryland No. 5. After the Hawkeyes at No. 6, the rest of Creme’s top 10 looked like this: Iowa State was No. 7, Tennessee No. 8, Notre Dame No. 9 and Oklahoma No. 10.

Other Big Ten teams that found their way into Creme’s way-too-early top 25 included No. 13 Ohio State, No. 17 Indiana and No. 20 Nebraska.

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‘Unlike anything anywhere’: Iowa Hawkeyes thank fans for support during NCAA Tournament

Iowa fans made it a special environment versus Creighton in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Iowa’s stars discussed what it meant.

The ending wasn’t what the fans or Iowa women’s basketball team were looking for. Tenth-seeded Creighton pulled off one of the NCAA Tournament’s big shockers by topping No. 2 seed Iowa, 64-62, in Iowa City.

The environment that Iowa fans created during the Hawkeyes’ two NCAA Tournament games was special, though. Each of Iowa’s tournament games against Illinois State and Creighton were played in front of sellout crowds.

After scoring 27 points on 12-for-20 shooting, Iowa senior forward Monika Czinano said the fan support was unparalleled.

“Yeah, I mean, I think what Iowa does and how they support women’s basketball is unlike anything anywhere. Walking out of the tunnel and seeing that many people is almost unexplainable. It fills you with joy and it makes the game so fun and it fuels you. I just thank you so much to everybody who came out today. It does suck to have that volume of people here and not be able to perform, but I really think that getting that many people in one gym to watch women’s sports is huge, and it just goes to show the love and dedication that they show to us here.

“But I think we’re a fun team to watch. I think people are picking up on that and I think it’s drawing more eyes to the sport. Obviously Caitlin’s a phenomenal player and that brings it, too. But people come a lot of times for Caitlin’s name and they stay because we’re so fun to watch as a collective unit. I’m just so proud of what we’re doing here, and the story is not over for us,” Czinano said.

Iowa sophomore standout guard Caitlin Clark echoed those sentiments from Czinano. The Big Ten Player of the Year said it was a shame to not be able to win in front of the standing-room-only crowd, but also pointed to the excitement for this group entering next season.

“Obviously a wonderful opportunity for a women’s basketball game today on ABC in front of a sold-out crowd. I just feel bad for our fans because they’ve given us so much over these past two weeks, really willed us to a regular season title here at home versus Michigan, and I hope they come out and support us the exact same way next year. I know they will. I think there’s a lot of exciting basketball ahead for this group, but obviously the feeling of letting them down, letting the coaches down, our teammates down, it stinks right now, but I think overall just more fuel for us going into next year,” Clark said.

Clark finished her season by scoring 15 points on 4-for-19 shooting. She also collected her 17th double-double of the season as she dished out 11 assists and grabbed eight rebounds. Similar to her players, Iowa head women’s basketball coach Lisa Bluder praise the Iowa fan base.

“Our crowd today was amazing again. I think we broke the NCAA record for first and second rounds of attendance, and I apologize to our fans that they couldn’t celebrate a victory with us today. They have been amazing all year, but boy, these last three games they’ve been incredible. So I want to thank them. I want to thank our administration because it’s a lot of hard work putting on an event like this and doing it with the class that Iowa does. And I want to thank them for that,” Bluder said.

Iowa ends its season at 24-8 overall. The Hawkeyes shared the Big Ten regular season title and won the Big Ten Tournament.

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Social media reacts to the Iowa Hawkeyes’ NCAA Tournament loss versus Creighton

Iowa fell in heartbreaking fashion to No. 10 seed Creighton, 64-62, on Sunday. Here were some of the best social media reactions.

A season highlighted by the Hawkeyes capturing a share of the Big Ten regular season championship and winning the Big Ten Tournament came to a close as No. 10 seed Creighton upset second-seeded Iowa inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Sunday afternoon, 64-62.

It looked like Iowa (24-8) was set to outlast Creighton (22-9) and advance into the Sweet 16 for a third consecutive season after Hawkeye junior guard Gabbie Marshall connected on back-to-back 3-pointers to put Iowa in front 56-54 with 6:53 remaining. Instead, Creighton weathered the Hawkeyes crowd after it had been brought to fever pitch.

Iowa transfer and now sophomore Creighton guard Lauren Jensen hit the game-winning 3-pointer with 15 seconds left to play as the Bluejays pulled off the 2022 NCAA Tournament’s biggest stunner to date.

Iowa trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half, but the Hawkeyes battled their way back all afternoon long.

“I’m just really proud of this team. I mean, and the exciting thing is we return everybody from our starting lineup, and that’s exciting. We have three great recruits coming in. But I couldn’t be more proud of this group. I love them. I can’t believe I don’t get to go to practice tomorrow. That’s the hardest thing for me right now is that I don’t get to go to practice tomorrow,” Iowa head women’s basketball coach Lisa Bluder said.

Bluder said Iowa got what it was looking for on its final possession with the Hawkeyes trailing 64-62 and 3.6 seconds remaining to operate with.

“We did. We wanted to get it to either Monika or Caitlin. Those were our two people we were trying to get the ball to,” Bluder said.

A memorable season comes to a close, but one of the best parts of Iowa’s season was the type of fan support this team received. Here’s a look at some of the social media reactions to Iowa’s season-ending loss to Creighton.

March Sadness: Iowa women’s NCAA Tournament run ends versus No. 10 seed Creighton

A fantastic season came to a close as No. 10 seed Creighton shocked second-seeded Iowa, 64-62, inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

It wasn’t supposed to end this way. Not with that type of crowd inside of Carver-Hawkeye Arena and not with this talented Iowa team. Tenth-seeded Creighton (22-9) made sure that it did, though.

In front of a raucous Hawkeye crowd, Creighton never blinked. It only added to the sting that the game-winning, 3-point shot was delivered by Iowa transfer and now Creighton sophomore guard Lauren Jensen with 15 seconds remaining. Playing against her former team, Jensen netted 8-of-15 field goal attempts and finished with a team-high 19 points to lead the Bluejays.

“Honestly, I was just super excited. I honestly didn’t know if it was going to go in. It kind of rattled off the back rim there. It wasn’t super clean, but I’m just glad it fell,” Jensen said.

Jensen leaned on her familiarity with Iowa to overcome what was a third-consecutive sell out crowd for the Hawkeyes.

“Obviously I’m pretty familiar with the arena because I played here all of last year, but I felt like that definitely helped. But on the flip side, there’s also some nerves with that because I’m wearing a different color this year, but I feel like it did help,” Jensen said.

Iowa head women’s basketball coach Lisa Bluder tipped the cap to her former player’s performance and thanked Hawkeye fans for the incredible environment they created.

“Obviously, just want to congratulate Creighton. A very well-played game, executed really well, defended really well. That’s a hard matchup for us. Five guards is a hard matchup. We knew that. But they did a great job, and Lauren Jensen was here last year, obviously that’s an incredible storyline. She goes over there and she comes back and beats us on our home court, and I want to congratulate her because she’s a great kid. She is a really, really good kid. I’m happy for her. I wish it wasn’t in this situation, but I am happy for her that she’s found a really good home and is really having a lot of success.

“Our crowd today was amazing again. I think we broke the NCAA record for first and second rounds of attendance, and I apologize to our fans that they couldn’t celebrate a victory with us today. They have been amazing all year, but boy, these last three games they’ve been incredible. So I want to thank them,” Bluder said.

Creighton won the rebounding battle over Iowa (24-8) in convincing fashion. The Bluejays out rebounded the Hawkeyes, 52-37. After Creighton jumped out in front 23-17 at the end of the first quarter, it felt like Iowa was battling uphill the rest of the afternoon.

In the second quarter, Iowa star sophomore guard and Big Ten Player of the Year Caitlin Clark knocked down her second 3-pointer of the day to bring the Hawkeyes back within 28-23. Creighton responded with a 10-3 run to grab the Bluejays’ biggest lead of 12 points at 38-26. During that 10-3 run by Creighton, Clark connected on what would be her final made 3-pointer of the season at the 3:54 mark of the second quarter.

Iowa closed the first half on a 6-0 run of their own to close the deficit to 38-32 at halftime. Early in the fourth quarter, it looked as if Iowa might finally be poised to take command and pull away from Creighton. Iowa junior guard Gabbie Marshall drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to put Iowa in front 56-54 with 6:53 remaining. That was the Hawkeyes’ first lead in the contest since Clark’s jumper fell to put Iowa in front 15-14 with 5:11 left in the first quarter.

In the final 2:48, though, it was Jensen that hit a jumper to pull Creighton back within two, drove inside for a game-tying layup and then, of course, hit the game-winning 3-pointer.

Iowa senior forward Monika Czinano was fantastic all afternoon long and finished with 27 points on 12-for-20 field goal shooting. In fact, she was a perfect 6-for-6 on her first six attempts from the field. With that in mind, it made sense that the play on Iowa’s final possession was set up for Czinano. She got a post-up touch inside off the inbounds pass, turned and left what would have been the game-tying shot for Iowa short. The Hawkeyes had a pair of put-back opportunities off Czinano’s miss, but those didn’t find the mark either.

“Yeah, I think I had a hook shot. I’ve shot a million hook shots in my life and that one happened to not go in. I think we’ve run that play a lot. We needed to run that play, and it was just unfortunate that it didn’t go in,” Czinano said.

It’s a disappointing end to a season that saw Iowa share the Big Ten regular season crown, win a Big Ten Tournament championship, earn a No. 2 seed in the Greensboro region, but fail to reach the tournament’s second weekend. Clark, a national player of the year candidate, wasn’t going to focus on all of the negatives.

“I thought we battled and battled and battled. Obviously didn’t perform the way we needed to to win in the fashion that we wanted, and I think we still had a lot of opportunities to win the game. But overall they executed down the stretch and we didn’t, and there’s a lot of little things that you can go back and pick out from a one-possession game. And I think it’s overall just going to be a lot of fuel to the fire next year. I think that’s really all you can use it as. Obviously we’re frustrated, we’re disappointed, we’re sad, but we have our core coming back, and I think that’s something bright to look forward to, as well,” Clark said.

Iowa does bring plenty of firepower back and it’s headlined by Clark. While the season ends in frustrating fashion, Iowa can take solace in the type of team it will field in the 2022-23 season.

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Iowa vs. Creighton: game details, how to watch

Iowa plays Creighton in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Here’s details and how to watch the second round matchup.

Iowa put together a historic performance in its first round NCAA Tournament  tilt against Illinois State. The Hawkeyes scored the most points in program history in a tournament game, winning 98-58.

Sophomore guard Caitlin Clark delivered another big performance, scoring 27 points on 9-for-15 shooting, dished out 10 assists and pulled down six rebounds. Senior forward Monika Czinano pitched in 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Junior guard Gabbie Marshall and senior guard Tomi Taiwo each scored 13 points.

Now, the Hawkeyes play host to No. 10 seed Creighton, who took care of its own business in Iowa City versus Colorado, 84-74.

“Creighton is a really good 3-point shooting team. They play a lot of 5-out, and they’re going to shoot the ball a lot. And they push the ball well in transition. I think they’re similar to us in wanting to shoot the ball. But they don’t play as fast-paced as we do. But there might be some matchup issues inside. But they’re a pretty good team. And there’s not much difference from the scrimmage; but, yeah, we’re just getting prepared for that, and we’ll be ready to guard the 3-point line,” Iowa redshirt junior guard Kate Martin said of the Hawkeyes’ next opponent.

Iowa women’s basketball, Caitlin Clark roll in NCAA Tournament opener over Illinois State

Caitlin Clark dropped 27 points in front of a sellout crowd at Carver-Hawkeye Arena as second-seeded Iowa rolled Illinois State, 98-58.

Illinois State jumped out to a quick 9-4 lead about four minutes into Friday afternoon’s NCAA Tournament opener after the Redbirds’ Juliunn Redmond hit a jumper. Second-seeded Iowa (24-7, 14-4 Big Ten) didn’t waste any more time after that bringing the sellout Carver-Hawkeye Arena crowd to its feet.

Sophomore guard and national player of the year candidate Caitlin Clark connected on her first of two made 3-pointers on the afternoon to pull Iowa back within a bucket, and, with that Clark make, the Hawkeyes were off and running. Illinois State (19-14) answered right back with a 3-pointer from Mary Crompton, but Iowa junior guard Gabbie Marshall drilled a trey of her own on the next trip down the floor.

Then, Hawkeye junior guard McKenna Warnock tied the game with a layup, Marshall gave Iowa its second lead of the afternoon on a 3-pointer with 3:41 remaining in the first quarter and the Hawkeyes ended the game’s opening quarter on a 17-6 scoring run.

After outscoring Illinois State 22-14 in the second quarter, the Hawkeyes really came alive in the third quarter. Iowa canned 8-of-10 3-point tries to balloon the lead to 74-47. When the 98-58 Hawkeyes’ victory was all said and done, Iowa had registered its most points in an NCAA Tournament game in program history.

The Hawkeyes shot 60 percent from the floor and 46.2 percent from 3-point range. Iowa also hit 20-of-21 from the free throw line to record the Hawkeyes’ best percentage finish from the charity stripe in an NCAA Tournament game.

Clark had another banner day, finishing with 27 points, 10 assists and six rebounds. It was the West Des Moine product’s 25th career double-double and 16th of the season. Iowa senior forward Monika Czinano added 18 points and was a perfect 6-for-6 shooting from the floor to go with a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Marshall and senior guard Tomi Taiwo each chipped in 13 points.

“I mean, obviously very excited about this game. Almost scoring 100 points out here tonight. We shot the ball well from all areas. Two, three, free throw line. I think we had 23 assists on 30, or 25 assists on 33 baskets. I love that style. Really sharing the ball really well. Only have 11 turnovers today, so that was great to see. I thought it was a really good game, especially with a couple weeks off here. I was worried about that rust, and I don’t think we really showed any signs of that today.

“But I really want to thank the crowd that came out. I mean, our fans were amazing. Our fans, you know, they braved parking problems today, they braved rain, and they still got here. We are so appreciative of them. But just come again on Sunday. It’s going to be easier. No hospital traffic and no rain let’s hope,” Iowa head women’s basketball coach Lisa Bluder said.

Iowa converted 13 Illinois State turnovers into 23 points and also outscored the Redbirds 24-2 in fast break points.

“Yeah, I think transition is always our best offense. We want to get to that no matter what. Obviously defending in transition is an area that we can still improve and get better at so it’s great to hear that we only gave up two points in transition. But yeah, I think that’s our best offense.

“I thought we got a lot of great contributions off the bench. Obviously, Tomi shot the ball well, Addy came in, so that always helps as well. But yeah, overall our transition offense when we’re doing it the way we should and when we get stops on the defensive end, that just leads to our transition offense. Hands down our best offense and that’s what we like to get to the most,” Clark said.

Iowa advances in the Greensboro region and will meet No. 10 seed Creighton in the second round after the Bluejays beat Colorado, 84-74. The Hawkeyes play at home inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Sunday versus Creighton.

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