Lisa Bluder, Caitlin Clark press conference
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 All right, just want to congratulate Ohio State.
00:04 It was a great game, great environment.
00:07 This is what it's all about.
00:09 And it was really good for the Big 10.
00:11 And really proud of our team's efforts out there tonight.
00:17 Certainly, I thought Molly Davis played really well for us
00:22 on both ends.
00:24 I mean, they just shot the three ball really, really well today,
00:28 well above their average, about 13% above their average.
00:32 And then we just did not have an answer for Cody McMahon inside.
00:34 I mean, she draws 10 fouls, goes to the free throw line
00:38 14 times.
00:39 So that was just a tough--
00:42 she's really, really hard to guard.
00:44 She's a great basketball player.
00:47 You know, it's unfortunate the game ended that way.
00:50 And Kaitlin gets taken out on the floor,
00:55 gets some inappropriate words yelled at her by fans,
00:59 by students.
01:00 That just should not happen.
01:02 It should not happen.
01:03 Our players should be safe.
01:04 They should be able to walk off the floor.
01:06 That's very disappointing.
01:10 I think Ohio State, great team, great environment,
01:12 but obviously very disappointed with the postgame,
01:15 with our players getting injured trying to walk out of the gym.
01:19 That's wrong.
01:19 [INAUDIBLE]
01:23 I guess for both of you, what was your point of view?
01:29 What happened on the floor after the game?
01:31 And then Kaitlin, I guess, are you OK?
01:34 Physically, how are you doing?
01:35 Yeah, I'm OK.
01:36 I think-- great environment, obviously.
01:40 These are the games you'd love to play in.
01:42 18,000 people here.
01:44 Obviously, I can see they're storming the court, which
01:47 is totally-- which is fine.
01:48 And I mean, good for their students, great win for them.
01:52 And I was just trying to exit the court as quickly
01:54 as possible, so I started running.
01:55 And I was absolutely just hammered by somebody
01:58 trying to run onto the court and basically blindsided.
02:01 And kind of scary.
02:03 Could have caused a pretty serious injury to me
02:06 and knocked a win out of me.
02:07 But luckily, my teammates kind of picked me up and got me
02:10 off the court.
02:12 And their AD already came and apologized to me,
02:14 so I really appreciate that.
02:16 And this is what comes with the territory.
02:18 I mean, I'm sure they tried their best
02:20 to do whatever they could.
02:21 Obviously, it didn't work, and that's disappointing.
02:24 But just focus now on the game and ways we can get better.
02:31 Question.
02:32 Thanks for your time.
02:32 I appreciate it.
02:33 You're up 12 points against Ohio State,
02:35 and then they are able to come back and go on a run.
02:37 Is there any way-- how do you stop a run like that whenever
02:40 they're really firing on all cylinders?
02:43 Yeah.
02:43 I mean, I take the blame for that.
02:47 I tried to call some timeouts to slow it down,
02:49 but I probably should have switched up our defenses
02:51 a little bit more.
02:53 But basically, I mean, they made a great run at it.
02:56 They got to the free throw line a lot in that ending.
03:01 They were making three-point plays.
03:03 And even in overtime, to go to the free throw line
03:05 seven times in five minutes, that's a lot.
03:09 So it's us staying out of foul trouble,
03:13 keeping the ball out of Cody's hands.
03:16 Kaelin, you guys are veteran enough
03:18 to know that whatever happened today,
03:19 there's still a lot of basketball afterwards.
03:21 But given the way that it went the way that it did,
03:24 what do you kind of hope is the biggest takeaway moving forward
03:27 from today?
03:29 Yeah, I think we tried a lot of different defenses.
03:32 And they shot the ball well.
03:34 They shot 50% from three.
03:35 We had a few people make some threes, especially
03:37 in the first half that we were going to live
03:39 with them making some threes.
03:41 And sometimes that's what happens
03:42 when you play teams on their home court.
03:43 But I think we got to find a way to stay out of foul trouble.
03:46 Just way too much fouling, way too many and ones.
03:49 It's hard to beat a team.
03:53 And the refs called it both ways.
03:55 I mean, it wasn't-- they're just calling fouls on us.
03:57 They were calling it both ways.
03:59 That's how they officiated the game.
04:00 And I think we didn't respond too great
04:04 when they went on their run when we were up 12 points
04:06 in the fourth quarter.
04:08 But that's what good teams are going
04:09 to do on their home court.
04:10 And I think we know.
04:12 We're a great team, too.
04:13 They're a great team.
04:14 And I told the girls after the game in the locker room,
04:17 we're lucky enough we get to play them again.
04:19 We are going to have an opportunity
04:20 to match up against them again.
04:22 So you can't hang your head too much.
04:24 Just got to respond.
04:25 Every game in the Big 10 is a battle.
04:26 And that's what makes it so fun.
04:30 Kaitlin, I see you're studying that stat sheet.
04:32 You're really looking over it.
04:33 So you mentioned the fouls.
04:34 But what are other areas you feel
04:36 like the team needs to improve on before your next matchup
04:39 against Ohio State at home?
04:43 I mean, I think 11 threes is a lot.
04:48 I think getting out rebounded, an area we've
04:51 done pretty good in this year.
04:54 They had 13 O boards.
04:56 I think there was a play at the end of the game where all we
04:59 had to do was come up with one defensive rebound.
05:01 And I think we would have had the game won.
05:03 And we had it.
05:04 Gets tipped around.
05:05 Ends up in Cody's hands.
05:06 And she gets an and one.
05:07 So I don't think we were tenacious tonight.
05:10 I think we were a little lackadaisical in all areas.
05:14 But we built a 12-point lead.
05:17 So there's a lot to be proud of still.
05:19 But there is a lot of things to learn from.
05:23 Coach, this isn't your first time
05:25 seeing Cody McMahon, played her twice last year.
05:28 Is there anything different about her,
05:30 her growth, that really stands out to you
05:32 right now about her game?
05:34 I thought she was outstanding last year, too.
05:36 I mean, she's just so physical, quick, strong.
05:40 Just a great player.
05:42 She's really, really hard to defend.
05:44 And when she gets going like that,
05:48 the three-point plays are pretty impressive,
05:50 that she can convert and draw the foul.
05:52 Coach and Kaitlin, you guys both talked about this.
06:02 Preventing the threes, at least.
06:03 She had 11 threes in the game.
06:04 And they went six for seven in the first half,
06:07 just from the left corner.
06:09 When you guys play a 2-3 or a 1-3-1 zone,
06:11 that kind of leaves you a little bit vulnerable to the three.
06:15 Did you guys want to crack down on that or shift to a man?
06:18 Or did you think about that at all?
06:21 We keep track of our defenses on the bench.
06:22 And we were better in zone.
06:26 Kaitlin, I know you faced off against Celeste Taylor
06:28 already once in your career.
06:29 But can you just talk about her defense tonight?
06:31 And even with the foul trouble and just the overall defense
06:33 that you were seeing from the Buckeyes?
06:35 Yeah, I think Celeste is a great defender.
06:37 She's long.
06:38 She's athletic.
06:39 She gets in passing lanes really well.
06:43 They had some foul trouble too.
06:44 So I felt like they had basically about any guard
06:46 match up with me today.
06:48 And obviously, that's what happens when you press a lot.
06:50 You have to just run back and scramble.
06:51 So we knew that was the case coming in here.
06:54 But yeah, Celeste is a great defender.
06:56 She was my teammate on USA Basketball back in the day.
06:59 And she's always had that skill and knack for the ball.
07:01 So I have a lot of respect for her.
07:03 Yeah.
07:05 Kaitlin, what did you see?
07:07 And what was the plan on the last possession of regulation?
07:11 Just try to clear everybody to the left side
07:13 and rip and go to my right.
07:14 And they helped over pretty good on my layup.
07:17 And luckily, Hannah got the offensive rebound,
07:20 the reason we went to overtime.
07:21 But it was a clear out drive to my right side.
07:24 So I thought they contested it pretty well.
07:26 I double clutched in the air.
07:28 But you make some, you miss some.