Iowa Women's basketball Press Conference
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00:00 (laughing)
00:02 Okay Taylor, is it gonna be fun to play in the press?
00:06 I think so, yeah.
00:08 I mean I have a few people coming.
00:09 My head coach was actually,
00:10 or my high school head coach was supposed to be coming in,
00:12 but he had something else, family stuff come up,
00:15 so he's not gonna make it, but I don't know.
00:17 It's always fun and I still know plenty of people
00:19 that play there, and obviously I know the coaching staff.
00:23 Yeah, I mean they're playing,
00:25 I mean they're coming off a tough loss to Penn State,
00:27 but I mean they're not having a bad year at all,
00:31 and they have some bits and pieces,
00:32 and so they're not afraid to come in here, that's for sure.
00:35 Do you know what team?
00:37 Markowski and I used to play against each other.
00:39 We went back and forth a lot in high school,
00:40 and so faced each other in the state championship
00:43 my junior year and when she was a senior,
00:47 and they got us then, so yeah.
00:49 We have some tough memories against each other,
00:51 but I think we both know it's friendly competition
00:54 at this point.
00:54 Who else do you have coming to this game?
00:56 Do you have other friends or family
00:57 from back home coming here?
00:59 Only my mom is coming from my family,
01:03 and then I have a couple aunts and uncles
01:05 and grandparents that are coming, so not too many,
01:07 but all my siblings are still in season themselves,
01:10 so we got a lot going on.
01:12 You were a Notre Dame fan, I think, growing up, right?
01:13 Yeah, we were Nebraska fans, actually,
01:15 which is very atypical, not common in Nebraska,
01:20 but like I said, we still have a lot of connections there,
01:23 and most of my grandparents went there as well,
01:27 so yeah, there's always ties.
01:29 Nebraska fans, are they all?
01:31 Everyone else is besides us, but yeah.
01:35 You haven't converted anyone else in your family yet?
01:37 To Iowa fans?
01:39 We've, it's not going well.
01:41 (laughing)
01:42 It's not.
01:43 They'll buy my T-shirts, and I'm like,
01:46 you guys have to buy something else.
01:47 We gotta get something else going on,
01:49 so I gave them some Iowa gears, Christmas presents,
01:52 and we'll see if they pull it out.
01:54 Did you think about going to Nebraska?
01:56 Was that a possibility, or Creighton, or anybody?
01:58 Yeah, I mean, both of those were definitely possibilities.
02:00 I picked up offers pretty early on from them,
02:03 like very beginning of my freshman year, I wanna say.
02:07 I visited both of the schools quite a bit,
02:12 just 'cause, I mean, they're so close, it's super convenient,
02:14 and yeah, I mean, they definitely have good places
02:17 and good people as well,
02:18 but this was just where I felt like I would.
02:21 Have the best chance.
02:23 You played Markowski's team,
02:24 you obviously didn't guard each other.
02:26 No.
02:27 (laughing)
02:28 No, thank goodness.
02:29 Did you ever walk Elaine
02:30 and sort of mix it up with her?
02:32 A couple times, yeah.
02:33 Yeah, she, I'm actually very impressed
02:37 with how she's developed her outside shot this year,
02:39 and it looks a lot better now, and so, I mean,
02:42 I really hope that we don't get matched up on each other,
02:45 still, and I think she'd probably say the same,
02:47 but yeah, I'd go at her a little bit in high school.
02:52 Kylie, what have the last few months been like for you?
02:53 I mean, you had to be on the sideline, of course,
02:55 last year for the tournament run,
02:56 just kind of watching from the bench.
02:58 What's it been like for you now
02:59 to get a chance to be a part of this team,
03:00 part of a historic run like you guys are on right now,
03:03 getting a chance to be in the national spotlight again?
03:05 Yeah, it's just been awesome.
03:06 I mean, being back on the floor,
03:07 for anyone who's kind of been injured,
03:09 you kind of know it's just a great feeling
03:10 to just be back out there, be with the girls,
03:13 but yeah, I mean, this season,
03:14 I couldn't be asking for anything better,
03:16 and just working hard every day, but it's been really fun.
03:19 Have you guys been through the tape
03:21 of the Ohio State game at all,
03:23 or is that just sort of, put that over there?
03:25 Yeah, I mean, every game that we play,
03:28 we go over kind of like the positive and negatives
03:31 to learn off of, and so we kind of looked at it,
03:34 and then move on, so.
03:35 What strike you about it that,
03:39 I mean, it just sort of, the end was just sort of.
03:44 Yeah, I think, yeah, moving forward,
03:47 especially when we play them again,
03:48 there'll definitely be some changes
03:49 of who we have to really focus on,
03:51 and just getting those second chance rebounds,
03:55 keep crashing, but yeah, I mean,
03:59 we always focus on things that we need to work on,
04:01 and then just move on to the next game.
04:04 How hard is it, you know, sitting on a loss
04:06 for a good part of a week?
04:08 I mean, I imagine you're excited
04:11 to get back on the floor tomorrow.
04:13 Yeah, we definitely talked about that, actually.
04:16 It's definitely weird, because we haven't had a game now
04:18 for, it'll be about a week, and it's really kind of tough
04:21 that it was a loss that we kind of ended on,
04:23 but our team is pretty good about kind of moving on.
04:27 Once we had practice again,
04:28 we had an off day after Ohio State,
04:30 but once we got back to practice,
04:33 it seemed like our practice was same as it usually is,
04:35 hardworking, definitely had some edge,
04:38 and we were just kind of ready to move on,
04:40 and let go of that game.
04:43 Any positives that you're getting
04:44 out of this week-long break?
04:46 Like, you guys needed tequila or anything like that?
04:49 Yeah, I mean, Taylor can probably say the same.
04:50 I think we've had a very, very long few weeks
04:54 where it's kind of felt like we have not had any break.
04:57 So, I mean, this one's definitely been a little bit longer,
04:59 just in the sense of there hasn't been a game
05:01 for about a week now, but it's been nice
05:03 to just kind of decompress and kind of reset
05:06 our mental and physical assets.
05:10 From the outside, it seemed like this week,
05:12 more than at any other point this season,
05:15 blocking out noise was very important,
05:18 whether it was everything that happened after the game
05:20 or the game itself.
05:21 Obviously, you guys hadn't lost in two months.
05:25 Did it feel like that from the inside?
05:26 Was that reemphasized this week?
05:28 And obviously, you guys have a lot of experience with that.
05:30 Just how important is that moving forward, too?
05:33 Yeah, I think our team does a great job
05:35 of having a very tight circle
05:36 and kind of staying with each other.
05:38 And I think also, along with that,
05:40 everybody's pretty good about,
05:41 like you said, kind of taking out the outside noise
05:45 and only focusing to what we need to within our circle.
05:48 But yeah, moving forward, we'll just continue doing that.
05:51 I personally don't really try to get onto
05:53 many social media platforms during the season,
05:56 and I know a lot of the team kind of does the same.
05:58 We just kind of choose what we want to see,
06:00 and we do a good job at it.
06:02 I know you know you guys get everybody's best shot,
06:05 and you guys are the ones that everybody has circled,
06:08 but I guess when it plays out, like Sunday,
06:10 where it's a fourth-quarter comeback, a loss,
06:13 of course, I mean, does that just kind of reemphasize
06:16 where you guys are right now with everything?
06:19 Just what the perception is of you guys
06:22 when you come on the schedule?
06:25 Yeah, I think it just kind of --
06:27 I mean, this is kind of how we always are,
06:29 but I think we just continue to work hard.
06:31 And I mean, it shows that it's basketball season.
06:34 You're always going to have a chance of losing a game
06:36 and just learning from it and moving on.
06:38 And I mean, our team is always great at doing that, I think.
06:42 Like I said, during the practices that we've had
06:44 since -- the practice that we've had since the loss,
06:47 we've just brought what we always bring
06:49 and just keep working hard and having that work ethic.
06:52 You talked to Taylor about the Nebraska game
06:54 bringing out a lot of personal ties.
06:55 What's that game for you?
06:56 Is it Iowa State? Is it Illinois?
06:58 Northwestern? What's the one that maybe has
06:59 a lot of family feuds going on with your family?
07:02 Iowa State for me, yeah.
07:04 I think we can probably relate with kind of how that is
07:07 with the family ties and everything.
07:09 Very similar, yeah.
07:11 As you guys look at Nebraska as an opponent tomorrow,
07:13 is there anything that sort of jumps out at them
07:15 as an opponent that you're taking special care
07:18 to prepare for?
07:19 They're a great rebounding team.
07:22 That's something that we're really going to focus on.
07:24 All of their players crash,
07:26 so that's one thing we're really going to focus on.
07:29 They're starting to run kind of a double post with Addie Potts,
07:32 who, I mean, could potentially win
07:34 Big Ten Freshman of the Year,
07:35 and she's having a really good year so far,
07:37 so just really focusing on defense down low
07:41 and staying out of foul trouble.
07:43 What's the perimeter players,
07:44 what are your responsibilities out there?
07:47 They do have some three-point shooters.
07:49 Yeah. Yeah.
07:50 I mean, yeah, like you said, they have some three-point shooters,
07:52 so just kind of knowing the scout
07:55 and knowing who to close out on, like Jazz Shelley, for example.
07:58 She's a great shooter and just a great player overall,
08:00 so locking her up and then just playing our solid defense
08:04 on the rest of the players as well.
08:07 Have you felt that 100% for most of this year?
08:09 I mean, has there been any moment
08:10 where you've been worried about re-injuring
08:12 or re-aggravating anything,
08:13 or have you felt pretty good pretty much this whole season?
08:15 Yeah, I think throughout the whole season,
08:16 I've felt pretty good.
08:17 I mean, when you get back at it the first couple weeks,
08:20 it was more so just during practice.
08:22 I mean, it's a little odd, but, I mean, ever since then,
08:25 I've felt pretty much 100%, yeah.
08:29 Thanks, guys.
08:30 [clears throat]
08:34 Let's see.
08:36 All right.
08:41 Obviously, the first of two games
08:43 against Nebraska coming up tomorrow.
08:46 Expecting a great battle.
08:48 Some familiar names on this team, Jazz Shelley,
08:52 Alexis Markowski, all Big Ten players.
08:57 New faces, Natalie Potts,
08:59 candidate for freshman of the year in our conference,
09:02 a strong candidate, I would say.
09:05 And a couple familiar names, as two of these players,
09:08 Kendall Coley and Annika Stewart,
09:10 had older sisters that played here,
09:12 which is kind of unique.
09:13 So we know them, and they've spent a lot of time
09:15 in this building watching their older sisters play.
09:19 But I think it's going to be a great environment.
09:22 Nebraska's been a little up and down,
09:24 kind of dependent on the day.
09:26 I've seen them play very well,
09:27 and I've seen them struggle at times.
09:29 And so, you know, I'm not sure which one we're going to get.
09:34 You guys lost the rebounding battle against Ohio State.
09:36 What kind of stood out to you about what you guys
09:39 didn't particularly do well from a rebounding standpoint?
09:41 Yeah.
09:43 First of all, they're pretty big and athletic.
09:45 I mean, they're good rebounders themselves.
09:48 Second of all, we got into foul trouble,
09:50 and that hurt us a bit, too, on the rebounding aspect.
09:54 But I think they missed a lot of short ones, too,
09:58 that are hard to box out.
09:59 You know, the longer ones, in my opinion,
10:02 are easier to box out, but the short ones are tough.
10:04 Nebraska's another really good rebounding team.
10:06 They are.
10:07 I mean, looking at their heights there,
10:08 they don't seem like an overly tall team.
10:10 What do they do well to rebound well, I guess?
10:12 Yeah, they're a plus 11, which is very good.
10:14 I don't know what we are. Do you know?
10:17 Nine and a half or something like that.
10:18 Okay. So you guys know my stats better than I do, so thank you.
10:23 You know, Alexis Markowski and Natalie Potts
10:25 are very good rebounders.
10:28 So, you know, obviously, you know,
10:30 in their new point guard that's a grad transfer,
10:33 she's doing a good job on the boards.
10:34 It's just that they have a lot of people
10:35 that really attack the boards.
10:38 But, yes, we have to make sure we for sure
10:40 get Natalie Potts and Markowski boxed out.
10:43 How -- you know, what's this week been like?
10:48 You know, sitting on a loss for five or six days.
10:51 What's -- you know, what's the mood of the team?
10:53 What's your mood?
10:55 You know, I think the mood of the team
10:56 is actually pretty good.
10:57 I think they're very excited to get out on the floor again.
11:01 We had a couple days off, which was really kind of nice,
11:04 you know, with the start of the school year.
11:08 And so it was our bye week.
11:10 You know, sometimes I don't really like a bye week
11:12 after a loss because you got to sit on it for so long.
11:16 But I think when you have time to sit on it, too,
11:18 you kind of process it a little bit more
11:21 and don't just move on right away from it,
11:23 but you process it a little bit more.
11:25 And, you know, I'm hoping that we can learn things from this
11:30 that will help us move on.
11:33 From the outside, it feels like this week
11:36 really emphasized walking out noise,
11:39 just, you know, whether it was everything
11:41 that happened after the game,
11:42 whether it was just losing for the first time in two months.
11:46 I know you guys do a good job of that
11:47 and have a lot of experience with that,
11:49 but was that reemphasized at all,
11:51 or kind of just how important is that aspect
11:54 for the rest of this year?
11:55 Yeah, to me, that's always emphasized.
11:57 Whether we win or lose, just block out the external noise
12:00 because, you know, even if you win,
12:03 there's always people that are doubters
12:05 or want to take you down or people that, you know,
12:07 not get enough playing time or whatever.
12:09 So to me, it's whether you win or lose,
12:12 tune out the doubters, tune out the extra noise,
12:15 and that's why I try to caution my players,
12:17 do not get on social media so much
12:20 because that's where you get a lot of it.
12:22 Jan said after the game
12:25 that there had been some kids that were sick.
12:28 She described it as flu or food poisoning.
12:31 She didn't know what.
12:32 But, I mean, is everybody okay and ready to roll?
12:36 I would say everybody is in really good health right now.
12:39 Yes.
12:41 Did the break help Hannah, you know, get back to --
12:46 I think the break was really good for Hannah.
12:49 You know, she's had two decent breaks in the last two weeks,
12:52 and I think when I saw her in practice yesterday,
12:55 I thought she looked really good.
12:58 Speaking of good health, Kylie Fuggerbrock,
13:00 getting a chance to be on the team this year.
13:01 I mean, after having to watch from the sidelines last year,
13:04 how much are you sensing just her enjoyment of this season,
13:06 getting a chance to be a part of a run like this
13:08 and not just having to watch from the sideline
13:10 but be actually on the court for this time around?
13:12 Yeah, when I watch Kylie,
13:14 whether it's in practice or in a game,
13:16 I almost forget she wasn't on the team last year
13:18 due to an injury.
13:19 I mean, she has recovered so quickly from that injury,
13:22 not wearing a brace, no reminder,
13:24 no hesitation at all.
13:27 But I think she's obviously, like every kid,
13:30 wants to have a little more playing time.
13:33 But when she goes in, I have great confidence in her.
13:36 Alexis Markowski has jumped her points per game,
13:38 her rebounds per game,
13:40 not necessarily three-point shooting, but inside the arc,
13:42 she's up, like, near 60%.
13:44 What have you seen from her on film that, you know,
13:46 is maybe different from last year or the year before?
13:49 I don't have her at 60%.
13:50 I have her at nearly 50%.
13:53 Yeah.
13:55 You just usually know all your stats,
13:57 so I was counting on you there, man.
13:59 Why do I attribute her?
14:03 No, just what do you see from her on film this year
14:05 compared to last year that might be different?
14:07 I mean, she's an excellent post player.
14:09 She's strong.
14:12 She does have that shooting range
14:13 that drags you out a little bit,
14:16 makes you guard her from farther out
14:18 than you'd like to maybe a center.
14:21 But I just think it's her strength,
14:22 and she's -- I mean, she's had so much good playing time.
14:25 She's been a starter since her freshman year.
14:28 I've always kind of been a fan.
14:29 I think she does a really nice job.
14:31 When Nebraska's good as opposed to when they struggle,
14:34 what's the difference?
14:35 Is it making shots, making outside shots?
14:38 I mean, that always, I think,
14:41 enthuses a team when they make shots, right?
14:44 It's like they just have a little bit
14:45 of a different bounce in their step.
14:48 You know, I'm not exactly sure.
14:50 It's kind of just my feel.
14:52 But, yeah, I can't really give you one or two things.
14:56 I feel like that's just kind of how the big ten is this year,
14:58 kind of past the first couple of teams
15:00 that you don't really know what you're going to get.
15:02 I mean, there's a lot of teams that look good some nights
15:04 and look bad some other nights.
15:06 Yeah, we've seen a little bit of that this year.
15:09 I would say that's pretty accurate.
15:12 Do you think the top three teams
15:14 are kind of going to be the ones to stay up there?
15:18 Well, I hope so because we're in it.
15:20 So I do hope that is the matter of fact.
15:23 But, you know, I mean, Maryland's a good team.
15:26 You know, I know they've been up and down a little bit,
15:28 losing at Michigan, but, you know,
15:30 Ohio State lost at Michigan as well.
15:31 So that's the thing is you can never take a night off.
15:36 I mean, look at Ohio State goes into Illinois,
15:38 and, you know, it's Illinois' game
15:40 for most of that game last night.
15:42 So it's a league where I think your top three
15:49 or four teams are really doing well,
15:52 but it's also a league that's scary
15:53 because one of those other ones can really bite you.
15:56 And this is one of them.
15:58 You look at someone like Jazz Shelly,
15:59 her three-point percentage has gone down,
16:01 I think, from her first year in Nebraska to now.
16:04 But is she just someone that you still reemphasize to your players?
16:07 She can fill it up really quickly
16:09 if you're not, you know, guarding her well.
16:11 And she has great range, too.
16:12 I mean, she's got long-distance range.
16:14 And in the last five games, six of her seven shots
16:17 have been from three-point range.
16:18 So that's pretty impressive.
16:21 How does the Potts girl kind of change their look?
16:25 Yeah, she's a power forward that would prefer to post up.
16:29 She's not really a distance shooter, in my opinion.
16:32 I'm sure she has that, you know, in her arsenal,
16:36 but I haven't seen it yet.
16:39 But she's really aggressive.
16:41 I think she's doing a really good job as a freshman,
16:43 confidently posting up,
16:45 rebounding extremely well on the offensive side of things.
16:49 She's kind of just this lanky post player.
16:53 And they're lucky that Markowski,
16:55 you know, has three-point range,
16:56 and so do some of the other centers
16:58 that come off the bench, like Annika Stewart,
17:00 so that she can spend more time on the block.
17:03 Some people in our conference
17:05 aren't able to guard that power forward down on the block,
17:09 but I think we are.
17:10 Is she the one that's near 60% from two-point range?
17:14 Yes. Yeah, that's who I was talking about.
17:15 There you go. There you go, Kyle.
17:18 Wayne is here.
17:20 The players have --
17:21 and you've sort of mentioned some optimism
17:23 about what you've seen in practice since the loss.
17:26 One, that game starts in those first five minutes.
17:29 Is there anything that you're sort of looking for
17:31 in terms of a good sign
17:33 that the team's sort of back where they need to be?
17:36 Kind of a locked-in defensive mentality,
17:39 you know, where --
17:41 And again, to me, it's fundamentals.
17:43 It's doing things like jump-stopping
17:46 and, you know, ball-faking and just easy things like that
17:49 that I think we got away from a little bit,
17:51 and so -- and the rebounding.
17:53 You know, I think that's really important, as well.
17:55 So just -- I just want to see an incredible focus,
18:00 but when I say that, sometimes people think,
18:02 "Oh, you're so serious when you're focused."
18:04 I want them to also enjoy the experience because --
18:07 and I think you can do both at the same time.
18:09 I mean, we're going to play in a sold-out arena again.
18:11 It's special, and I want them to feed off the crowd
18:15 but also give the crowd an experience
18:18 that they can be proud of when they leave here.
18:21 There was some discussion after the last game about Hannah,
18:23 especially maybe getting some negative feedback
18:25 from some fans.
18:26 I know that her dad said she had to delete her Instagram
18:28 for a little while.
18:29 In moments like that, is that something where --
18:31 I don't know if you coaches ever step in
18:32 and maybe try to give them a little bit more
18:34 positive reinforcement in times like that,
18:36 or if you try to encourage, like, teammates
18:38 to roll around them, or if --
18:39 you know, Kaitlin obviously has gotten a lot of that
18:41 in her career, too.
18:42 I don't know if she's somebody who steps in
18:43 and tries to help build up her teammates
18:45 in times like that, too.
18:47 Again, it kind of goes back to that,
18:48 "Let's not pay attention to the outside noise."
18:51 Remember, she made a free throw that tied up the game.
18:54 That was hard to do in that environment.
18:56 I'm proud of her for that.
18:58 Without her, we don't go to overtime.
19:01 How important is this game just to kind of serve as fuel
19:05 to finish the rest of the season strongly?
19:07 How does this game or --
19:09 The Nebraska game. The Nebraska game.
19:11 Yeah, you want to get back on the winning track, right?
19:13 I mean, you just want to get back on that roll again.
19:15 I think, "What did we win, 16 in a row after we lost?"
19:18 or something like that.
19:20 You know, let's do it again. Why not, you know?
19:23 What does Nebraska rank in terms of your favorite teams to play?
19:26 I think fans consider them to be a rival.
19:28 Do you consider them to be a rival?
19:30 You know, just because of their proximity, probably.
19:34 But I think Iowa and Nebraska fans
19:37 both do get into this rivalry,
19:39 and I think they enjoy it quite a bit.
19:42 To me, it's not anything more of a rivalry
19:46 than any other game that we play.
19:48 The next player that Kaitlin's going to pass
19:49 on the crew scoring chart is going to be Jackie Stiles.
19:51 She wouldn't remember seeing her, obviously,
19:53 but you would coach against her a few times.
19:55 Do you remember, Drake?
19:56 What do you remember from her playing career,
19:57 what kind of player she was?
19:58 Yeah, I did a home visit with Jackie.
20:01 Obviously, you know, tried to defend her.
20:04 Not easy to do.
20:06 She was an unbelievable offensive player.
20:07 She was quick. She had great range.
20:09 She could shoot off the bounce really, really well.
20:13 Just a special player and a really great young lady, too.
20:18 Thanks, Coach.
20:20 Thank you. Thank you.