Lisa Bluder, Kate Martin, Hannah Stuelke interviews
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00:00 [ Background noise ]
00:13 >> And I saw that picture sort of online of your dad posted
00:16 of you and Gabby at the same camp back
00:18 when you were a little kid.
00:19 You guys wouldn't have spoken back then, would you?
00:22 You don't remember meeting her or anything back
00:23 when you were a little kid?
00:24 >> No, I don't remember meeting Gab.
00:26 There's a couple of those pictures of us together
00:29 and it's really weird because like now we're here and playing
00:32 and you know you never expect that when you're so young,
00:35 but I think it's awesome.
00:36 >> What was that like for you as a kid coming
00:38 to these Hawkeye camps?
00:39 What are some of the things you remember learning
00:41 when you would come down here and go to lessons or whatever?
00:43 >> I think it was just a lot of fun for me.
00:46 I've always really enjoyed basketball.
00:48 I've always enjoyed learning.
00:49 And the atmosphere here is obviously really amazing,
00:53 so it's part of why I chose to come here.
00:56 >> Hannah, what do you know about Coach Freeze?
00:59 I mean, she's a Wash kid.
01:01 Do you have much, you know,
01:03 obviously there's a big age gap there, but you know,
01:06 what do you know about her?
01:09 >> Well, she knows my mom, of course,
01:13 but my mom knows everybody because she likes to talk.
01:17 But yeah, there's a lot of history
01:20 with my basketball coach, Coach James.
01:23 He's known her since he was little.
01:26 Obviously, she was an amazing basketball player
01:30 as well as her sister.
01:32 So I think I broke some of their records also.
01:35 But yeah, she's a great coach,
01:38 and I'm excited to play against them again.
01:41 >> Kate, I think this is your fourth trip to Maryland.
01:45 The first three haven't gone very well.
01:48 >> Yeah.
01:48 >> And just in general, it seems
01:50 like you guys haven't even necessarily been playing bad
01:53 basketball when you guys go out there,
01:55 and it's been, you know, a tough time.
01:57 Just is there anything about that trip other than the fact
02:00 that Maryland's had good teams over the years
02:01 that it sticks out as?
02:03 >> Well, I would just say
02:05 that since Maryland's joined the league, you know,
02:08 they've been pretty dominant,
02:09 and they've had some really good athletic teams.
02:12 And so that's always, you know,
02:13 posed a problem for us in previous years.
02:16 And I mean, it's just a tough environment to go into,
02:20 and any Big Ten road game is a tough environment.
02:23 At this point, or it's like a home game for us,
02:26 but Maryland's pretty far away.
02:28 So obviously, it's going to be a really fun environment.
02:31 I'm not sure if it's sold out or not, but it is.
02:34 So I mean, and there's probably going to be more Maryland fans
02:37 than Iowa fans there.
02:38 So I mean, but we've gotten pretty used to playing
02:41 in hostile environments now, and obviously, yeah,
02:43 we've lost the last, ever since I've been here
02:46 and ever since Coach Bluter's coached here,
02:48 we haven't won there.
02:49 So obviously, we're going in there,
02:50 especially after what happened to us last year
02:52 at their place, and you know, we're just going
02:55 to play Iowa basketball, give it our best shot.
02:58 I mean, the odds hopefully could be in our favor here,
03:02 but you never know.
03:03 >> What defensive problems do they present?
03:06 >> Yeah, they're just very aggressive.
03:08 They switch everything, and that's not, you know,
03:12 it's almost like, and they play like a matchup type
03:14 of zone as well.
03:15 So what's good for us is Northwestern does kind
03:21 of a matchup zone as well.
03:22 So playing two teams that play similar defense in that way,
03:26 well, you know, has helped us prepare all week
03:29 for Maryland as well, and they're just very aggressive,
03:32 athletic, they have a confidence about themselves,
03:34 or they just don't really care who you are.
03:37 They're going to ball pressure you.
03:38 They're going to try to, you know, amp you up
03:40 and speed you up, and so we can't let that affect us.
03:42 >> Hannah, I think Coach Bluter said that you had maybe a little
03:46 bit more spring in your step against Northwestern,
03:48 ran the floor pretty well and rebounded well.
03:50 Did you, what felt different
03:51 about last game compared to maybe some
03:53 of the feet before that?
03:55 >> I don't know.
03:57 That's a good question.
03:58 I think my mindset has been a little better recently.
04:04 Yeah. That's all I got to tell you.
04:08 >> Hannah, the rotation at Biggs has sort of changed recently,
04:11 and it's really sort of changed and fluctuated all year.
04:15 What's it been like to see Addy come off the bench,
04:18 and be a bigger part of the rotation?
04:21 And what does it bring to the team?
04:25 What sort of elements does that bring?
04:28 >> I think it's been amazing.
04:29 I think Addy's a really great basketball player,
04:31 and she needs to be confident in herself.
04:34 She's got a lot that she can give to this team,
04:39 especially with her height.
04:40 Now, I'm not very tall, but she brings that height,
04:44 and she can get those blocks.
04:46 She can play great defense.
04:47 She can score on anybody, I believe.
04:50 So I think it's great having her in there and stepping up.
04:55 >> Does it make your job easier as a defender to have her by you?
04:58 >> Yes, I think absolutely.
05:00 >> Okay. There are a lot of games this year
05:01 where you've kind of turned
05:02 into the number-two scoring option,
05:04 depending on the matchups
05:05 or what's happening on any given night.
05:07 Is that what you envision for your season?
05:09 I mean, I know that you had some sicknesses
05:11 right before the season started,
05:13 and we're kind of just getting back to full health
05:14 when the year started, but you've really stepped up,
05:16 and have been averaging whatever, 12, 16 points
05:19 the last couple months, it seems like.
05:21 Is that what you envisioned for yourself this year,
05:22 that you'd be scoring this much,
05:23 have this much offensive prowess?
05:26 >> I don't know.
05:27 I guess I didn't really come into the season
05:29 thinking like, "Oh, I need to average this many points,"
05:31 or "I want to average this many points."
05:33 I honestly just kind of stepped into my role,
05:35 and if that's more of a scoring role, then so be it,
05:38 and that's kind of what I've just taken in stride.
05:41 And I think I've just honestly been put
05:46 in some really good positions, like running the floor,
05:48 and I have a teammate like Kaitlin
05:50 who can find me running the floor,
05:52 and I've gotten some easy buckets that way.
05:56 But I don't know.
05:57 I've just been able to step up,
05:58 knock some shots down, and I'm just happy that I can do that.
06:02 And it's not like I was going into the season thinking,
06:05 "Oh, I'm going to score this many points."
06:07 I just think it's kind of happened for me,
06:09 and I'm glad it has.
06:11 - Do you enjoy having those numbers there?
06:12 I mean, I imagine it's the first time since high school
06:14 that you've been scoring this much
06:15 and have as much of an offensive presence.
06:17 - Yeah, I guess so.
06:18 I mean, everybody likes to score,
06:20 but it's not really like -- I don't really look at --
06:23 I never look at my stats after games or anything like that.
06:26 Only see them if I'm told what they are,
06:29 so it's just something I don't really care about too much,
06:33 but I'm very happy because it's --
06:35 I mean, it does feel good.
06:36 Who doesn't want to score?
06:40 - You talked about how good Maryland's been.
06:42 This team's four and six in the Big Ten.
06:45 Gave up 112 to Penn State the other day.
06:49 Do you see some holes there that might not have been there
06:54 in the last three or four years?
06:56 - Sure.
06:57 I think every team is going through a transition
07:01 with new players, losing some really great players.
07:04 They obviously lost Diamond Miller, Abby Myers,
07:08 and a couple other players.
07:09 So they're a different team.
07:11 They're going through adjustments.
07:12 That doesn't mean they're not Maryland.
07:15 They're not a really good team,
07:16 and I think any Big Ten team right now is really good,
07:20 and you never know what you're going to get on any given night,
07:22 and so we're on their home court with their fans,
07:25 and everybody's going to give it their best shot
07:28 when they're playing against us.
07:29 So while they might not have WNBA players,
07:34 and they still might, but with Cheyenne Sellers,
07:38 she's a really good player,
07:39 and they have really good four and five on the inside,
07:43 but they're not maybe "what they used to be,"
07:46 but they're still going to give it their best shot,
07:48 and they're going to come out and play their best basketball
07:51 they have all season against us.
07:54 - What are your keys defensively?
07:56 They seem to have three or four kids
07:58 that can shoot the three, so they can stretch the defense,
08:02 but they also like to drive to the hole.
08:05 So what are you guys focusing on?
08:09 - Yeah, we really got to contain the drive,
08:11 and boxing out, rebounding,
08:13 that's been a key for us the last few games.
08:15 I mean, we started out the season doing really well
08:17 with our rebound margins,
08:18 and we kind of let up the last few two previous games,
08:22 not Northwestern, but so that's going to be a key for us.
08:26 I mean, they attack the glass really hard,
08:28 and so, yeah, they've got some good outside weapons,
08:32 and they've got a strong inside presence.
08:34 Their four-player's really good, transfer from NC State,
08:37 I believe, and Cheyenne Sellers didn't play against Indiana,
08:40 but she's a very crafty, shifty point guard
08:43 who can knock down the three and get to the rim.
08:44 So, yeah, I think we just have to play solid team defense,
08:49 and just contain the ball, keep them in front of us,
08:53 have good help when we can, and that's really the key.
08:56 You said it, they've got good outside shooters,
08:58 they've got good inside, so that obviously is tough to guard,
09:01 but we're just going to have to come out
09:04 and give it our best shot.
09:05 I know you're a team that doesn't focus too much on losses,
09:07 but last year's loss, the way it went down at Maryland,
09:10 seemed to almost be kind of a catalyst or a springboard
09:12 for what you guys did in the postseason.
09:15 Is that loss to Maryland last year
09:17 something that you guys have remembered
09:18 maybe a little bit more than other games?
09:20 Keri, do you want me to answer?
09:24 I think for sure we remember last year.
09:28 Obviously, Yates never won there,
09:30 and Coach Bluer's never won there either,
09:32 so I think that we want to win this game
09:35 for the team and for Coach Bluer, of course.
09:40 Yeah, I think that game, obviously,
09:42 they did some different things to us defensively
09:45 than we had seen before, and that was,
09:48 we kept calling it March medicine last year
09:50 because it really taught us what our weaknesses were,
09:55 and we've been able to polish those up a lot
09:58 since last year, it's been almost an entire year.
10:01 So we're excited for it, it's gonna be a fun environment,
10:05 and yeah, we don't ever want to feel the way we did
10:09 last year after that game,
10:10 so we never want to feel that way again,
10:12 so we're going in with a positive mindset here.
10:15 Kate, it seems like in the last few games,
10:18 the team has been, I don't want to say starting slowly,
10:21 but the games have been very competitive up to,
10:24 including like to halftime.
10:25 Is that just a reflection of you guys
10:28 getting these teams its best shots?
10:30 Is it a slow, do you perceive it as a slow start
10:33 for the team, or what do you, how do you look at that?
10:35 Yeah, I would say we're definitely getting
10:38 every team's best shot.
10:40 I mean, it could be a little, yeah,
10:44 it's a little bit of a slow start.
10:45 I think we could come out on fire more,
10:49 but sometimes we're getting great shots,
10:51 we're just not knocking them down.
10:53 But yeah, I think whenever you're the third-ranked team
10:56 in the country, you've been in the top of the Big Ten
10:59 like every single, you have a target on your back,
11:01 and every single person, every single team wants to beat you.
11:04 So they're gonna come out, and they're gonna
11:07 be way more amped up sometimes,
11:09 and we have to figure out a way of how,
11:11 it doesn't matter if they're the bottom of the Big Ten
11:12 or the top of the Big Ten,
11:14 we need to be consistent in everything we do,
11:17 and have intention in everything we do,
11:20 and every single play matters.
11:22 It doesn't matter if it's against Northwestern,
11:25 it doesn't matter if it's against Indiana.
11:27 Every single possession matters for us,
11:29 and Coach Luter's trying to instill that mindset in us,
11:31 and I think we do have it, but sometimes,
11:35 whenever you have that target on your back,
11:37 people are gonna come out, and they have a lot to play for
11:40 in those moments.
11:41 That theme has really kind of been,
11:43 I feel like, emphasized even more this year,
11:45 getting everybody's best shot,
11:46 being operating from the top
11:48 pretty much the all-way through.
11:50 Kind of compare and contrast a young player and a veteran,
11:53 just, that's not always something
11:55 that you guys have had to deal with
11:57 to the level that it's been throughout this season,
11:59 just from your leadership and your kind of absorbing that,
12:03 what has that been like to go through,
12:06 you know, emotionally, mentally,
12:07 as you navigate this long season?
12:09 I think it makes it more fun.
12:11 I mean, you wouldn't want somebody to just come out
12:14 and be like, "Oh, it's Iowa. We're already gonna lose."
12:16 It's like, no, we want you to give your best shot.
12:19 We want people at their best.
12:20 I mean, that feels better. That means more.
12:22 It helps us get better for throughout the season
12:25 and into March and for the tournament,
12:29 so we wouldn't want it any other way.
12:31 That's what makes basketball fun.
12:32 That's why it's so exciting to watch our team and our games,
12:36 but, yeah, it hasn't always been that way, maybe,
12:38 but it's been really cool to be a part of that
12:42 and to see where our team and Coach Bluter's,
12:46 you know, legacy that she's built has grown.
12:49 Yeah, and ever since I've been here, it's been like that,
12:52 so I think it's, like, the same.
12:55 We want to compete every single game.
12:57 We want to get better. We want to have that pressure.
13:01 Obviously, Coach Bluter says pressure is a privilege,
13:04 and I think we live by that,
13:06 and it makes us better as basketball players
13:09 and as people.
13:10 We're ready for life.
13:12 Yeah. Sure.
13:13 Kate, I think we've all seen that the moments
13:16 that Kaitlin gets to be a 22-year-old college kid
13:19 are few and far between now,
13:21 and, you know, it seems like the Kaitlin mania
13:23 has really hit another gear in the last few weeks,
13:27 even.
13:29 Just, I know you don't think about it in this frame
13:30 because you're just hanging out with your friends,
13:32 but how valuable is the downtime that you guys get
13:35 to where Kaitlin is kind of removed
13:37 from everything that she goes through,
13:39 whether it's just on the plane or making TikToks or whatever?
13:43 Just, like, how valuable is that for her
13:46 and your guys' team as a whole?
13:48 Yeah, I mean, obviously,
13:49 Kaitlin's breaking a lot of records per usual,
13:52 and, you know, a Big Ten all-time leading scorer,
13:55 so she deserves that recognition.
13:58 She deserves the fame that she's getting,
14:00 but, yeah, I mean, I don't think I would like to be
14:03 in her shoes completely with all the,
14:06 you know, attention.
14:07 It feels like everybody's watching you,
14:08 and so when she can get downtime, we can get downtime.
14:13 I mean, obviously, that's really important,
14:15 you know, just playing video games
14:16 or hanging out with your friends,
14:18 just sitting there talking.
14:21 That's obviously just really important
14:23 that every single person in here needs
14:25 and every single person in the world really wants.
14:29 So, I mean, I don't know. I'm not in Kaitlin's head.
14:31 I don't know exactly how she feels,
14:33 but I'm sure that it is, you know, crucial to her
14:36 to, you know, just maybe take a deep breath
14:39 and just be able to relax and be normal
14:41 and hang out with her friends.
14:43 Would you want to meet Jay from State Farm?
14:47 Honestly, yeah, I would.
14:49 That'd be pretty cool.
14:51 I don't know. We've gotten a lot of big-time people
14:55 who have come to games, so it's been really cool
14:58 that we've gotten to meet quite a few celebs, I guess.
15:03 Thanks, guys. Yeah.
15:04 Thank you. Thank you.
15:05 Any other questions?
15:09 All right.
15:11 Obviously, important game at Maryland.
15:16 You know, it's a situation
15:17 we only play them once this year,
15:19 and we've never won there.
15:21 We've beat them at home.
15:22 We've beat them in the Big Ten Tournament,
15:23 but we've never won there,
15:25 and so I think that gives us a little added motivation,
15:30 and again, like I said,
15:31 just because it is a solo meeting as well.
15:33 So, important game.
15:35 We don't know the status of Cheyenne Sellers.
15:36 She missed the last game.
15:39 Probably won't know until...
15:42 [laughs] It's all right.
15:45 No, it's okay. It's all right.
15:47 Bree McDaniel's doing really well for them.
15:49 She's really playing the point guard, the off guard.
15:52 She is an extremely good basketball player.
15:55 She's hard to guard because she's strong and fast.
15:59 You know, they're not really tall,
16:00 but they're really strong inside.
16:05 I think transition defense is a key.
16:07 They're very, very good at pushing the ball
16:09 and getting high-percentage scores.
16:10 They're quicker than we are.
16:12 They run more possessions per game than we do.
16:15 You mentioned about Maryland has made it such a tough place
16:18 for you to play after this team to win.
16:20 They're at, what was the last one, '92, '93 season,
16:22 I think was the last time Iowa won in Maryland.
16:24 What is it that makes that place such a hard environment for you?
16:27 Well, I just think they're a good basketball team.
16:29 I mean, it's hard to beat good basketball teams
16:31 on their home court,
16:33 and we're going to be facing another sold-out crowd.
16:36 As I understand, this is the hottest ticket
16:38 that they've had in five years,
16:40 and so it's going to be an unbelievable crowd,
16:42 but hopefully we'll have some at least 22 fans,
16:45 if not Hawk fans, there.
16:47 You mentioned Cheyenne Sellers is questioned with that.
16:50 I believe it's a knee injury.
16:51 If she is able to play, what does she bring to them
16:53 as a 6'2" guard?
16:55 Yeah, I mean, they can post you up
16:57 because they're not big inside,
16:59 but they're big at all their guard positions,
17:00 and so they do a really good job of posting up their guards,
17:03 and that's given us trouble against them in the past,
17:06 but you look at, like, Gabby Marshall or Molly Davis
17:09 on a 6'2" guard, that's a hard matchup.
17:13 How are they different this year?
17:14 I mean, they're 4-6 right now.
17:17 They've never won more than four --
17:19 lost more than four games in a conference season
17:22 ever before this year.
17:23 You know, they're trying to do a lot of the same things
17:27 that they've done before.
17:29 They're not as maybe deep as they have been.
17:31 They've had some injuries, you know, and that hurts people,
17:36 but, I mean, I really think that they're trying to do
17:39 a lot of the same things that they have been trying to do,
17:41 but they don't have the height that they've had,
17:44 and they don't have, again,
17:46 the depth that they've had.
17:48 Over the last, I think it's four games,
17:49 teams have really found success
17:51 shooting the three ball against Maryland.
17:54 They've also been turning it over a little bit more
17:55 than they normally do.
17:57 Is that kind of a big key, if you guys can force
17:58 some turnovers and get out and transition
18:00 to find some of those potential, you know, three-point looks?
18:02 They've been turning it over or other teams have been turning it over?
18:04 Maryland has been turning it over,
18:05 and they've also been -- you know, opponents have shot
18:07 from three very well against them.
18:08 Yeah, well, they play a lot of zone,
18:10 and so, you know, sometimes people think
18:12 that gives up the three.
18:13 Sometimes you talk to other people and think it doesn't,
18:15 so it really depends on the person that you are
18:17 and how you attack it,
18:18 but I've been really comfortable with our three-point shooting.
18:22 We're coming off a really good three-point performance
18:24 at Northwestern, and again, I expect some junk defense.
18:29 I think they're going to play box and one.
18:30 That's what they did against Kaitlin last year,
18:33 the last two times that we played them,
18:34 so I'm fully expecting --
18:36 We also saw some triangle and two against Indiana,
18:38 so I think they're going to try some junk defense against us.
18:41 What's your relationship like with Coach Freeze?
18:43 I mean, she's not just a Big Ten coach,
18:44 but she's a fellow Cedar Rapids Metro graduate.
18:47 What's your relationship?
18:49 Yeah, we were never in school at the same time
18:50 or anything like that, and obviously,
18:52 she went to Arizona out of state,
18:54 you know, to play college basketball,
18:56 so, you know, I'm not like --
18:58 We know each other from way back when in Cedar Rapids,
19:02 but certainly I respect her.
19:03 What she's done at Maryland has been absolutely amazing.
19:07 She's an excellent coach, national coach of the year,
19:11 you know, won a national championship,
19:12 so they don't get much better than that.
19:14 What do you guys have to do defensively against them,
19:17 against those --
19:18 You know, they do have the three-point shooters.
19:20 They take the ball to the hoop.
19:23 What's key, you think, for you guys?
19:25 I think transition defense is really important.
19:28 I think boxing out is really important.
19:30 They get a lot -- Their guards rebound really well,
19:33 so everybody on their team rebounds well,
19:35 and we can't let them up those easy second opportunities,
19:39 so I think that's important.
19:41 Also, they just play people at all different positions.
19:44 For example, Faith Masonis will come off the bench
19:47 and play one through five positions.
19:49 That's highly unusual,
19:51 but we're going to have to really be in tuned
19:54 defensively to our matchups and really, you know,
19:58 with a full house and maybe not being able to hear very well,
20:01 being in tune with Coach Reyna,
20:02 who does our matchups on the bench for us,
20:05 and lock in on that,
20:07 because there's going to be a lot of changes
20:09 going on during this game.
20:10 When you see a team that's had some up
20:12 and down results at this point,
20:13 do you just expect that you're going to get the team
20:16 that won those games and their best product?
20:20 Oh, there's no doubt.
20:22 I mean, I expect to always get, you know,
20:24 Brenda and Marilyn's best.
20:26 You know, I just think that Marilyn and us
20:28 have kind of become a little bit of a rivalry over the years,
20:32 even though we have a great distance between us,
20:34 and so I think that we're always going to get --
20:36 I'm expecting Cheyenne Sellers to play,
20:38 and I'm expecting to get their best game.
20:40 Speaking of getting your opponents best,
20:42 it seems like even in games
20:44 where your team ends up winning 20, 30 points,
20:47 these are very competitive games
20:49 through the first 15, even 20 minutes.
20:52 Is that because you're getting the teams best?
20:54 Are you perceiving it as a slow start on your team's part?
20:58 What do you think about that?
20:59 I don't think it's any of those things.
21:00 I think that when you're up by eight at the quarter break,
21:06 that's significant.
21:07 That is 10 minutes of basketball,
21:09 and you're already up eight.
21:10 So, yeah, at the end of the game, you may be up 30, 25,
21:12 but if you're up six or eight at the end of the first quarter,
21:15 that's pretty good numbers, and so I don't perceive --
21:18 You're not going to beat somebody 25 to zero
21:20 in the first quarter.
21:21 And that's what people want. It's ridiculous.
21:24 I mean, it's slowly. It happens over time,
21:27 and you don't beat somebody in the first quarter.
21:30 You beat them over the course of the game.
21:32 We haven't seen a lot of share in the last couple games.
21:35 Is that just a match-up thing where maybe Addie or Hannah
21:37 matches up better with their post players,
21:38 or is she recovering from anything right now?
21:40 Not recovering from anything.
21:41 We're just trying to find that second post player
21:44 that really wants to step up consistently,
21:46 and we're not finding it yet, and that's kind of disappointing
21:49 because here we are in February,
21:51 and we haven't had some post that just grasps it
21:54 and goes for it, and so I thought A.J.
21:58 Ettinger went into the Northwestern game
21:59 and played really well,
22:00 and she moved up on the list as well.
22:04 They have a transfer from NC State,
22:05 Ja'Kia Brown-Turner.
22:07 You got to face her last year, I believe.
22:08 Over the last four games, she's really picked up.
22:10 I think it's averaging over 20 points a game in the last four.
22:12 Just what do you see from her from an offensive standpoint?
22:15 Yeah, tremendous player.
22:16 I think she was third-team All-American
22:18 as a freshman coming out of NC State,
22:21 so kind of unusual there, or maybe when she graduated.
22:26 I don't remember what it was,
22:27 but I know she was up there with NC State.
22:31 Been playing, shooting the three-ball well,
22:34 over 55, around 55 percent the last five games.
22:38 Crashes really well.
22:40 She's a lefty.
22:41 She's somebody that can attack,
22:43 really score in all three of the different areas.
22:46 You guys seem to be good for one or two
22:49 of these 90-second stretches a game
22:52 where you put an 8-0 or a 12-2 run on somebody.
22:56 I know Kaitlin's part of that,
22:57 but what's kind of the anatomy of these little quick surges
23:03 that you're able to put on people?
23:05 I think Kaitlin is a lot of that.
23:07 When she feels it, she feels it, right?
23:09 And she's going to let it go.
23:10 And it's really hard to stop.
23:13 It's really hard to defend that,
23:15 but I really do think it goes back to Kaitlin
23:18 and just her ability to shoot from that range.
23:21 And when she feels it, she's going to toss it up there.
23:25 I want to ask about Kait's progression
23:26 a little bit this year.
23:27 I know she was sick early in the season,
23:28 and so was still kind of recovering from that
23:30 from the first few games,
23:31 but it's the first time we've seen her
23:33 as the number-two scoring option on this team
23:35 where she's putting up 12, 16 points a night, almost reliably.
23:38 Did you anticipate that you'd see that out of her this year,
23:40 where she'd be such a deep offensive threat for you?
23:43 Kait had a great summer.
23:46 She's playing confidently.
23:48 She's enjoying her last season.
23:51 She understands that we need her to score.
23:53 She's shooting the three ball really well.
23:56 So I'm really happy for Kait
23:58 because she's put in a lot of time
23:59 and really deserves this opportunity.
24:01 Defensively, you guys haven't always been a team
24:03 that forces a ton of turnovers.
24:04 The last two games, I believe it's 44
24:06 over the last two games you guys have forced for turnovers.
24:08 What have you guys been doing defensively that has led to that?
24:11 You know, it's not anything different that we're doing.
24:13 It's just maybe the people that we've played
24:15 have turned the ball over more times.
24:16 We've thrown some doubles in there and things like that,
24:19 and I think that hurt against Nebraska,
24:21 but, I mean, really it's just a case of, you know,
24:25 we're not doing anything different defensively
24:27 the last couple games.
24:29 It was about this time last year that Kait and Gabby
24:32 said they were both coming back for a fifth year.
24:34 Do you expect Kaitlyn to wait until after the season
24:38 to announce anything or not?
24:42 I fully expect her to wait until after the season.
24:44 I just don't think she wants to think about this
24:46 until after the season,
24:47 and so we'll go through senior day ceremonies.
24:50 This is her senior day.
24:51 If she comes back, we do it again, we do it again.
24:54 Thanks, Coach. Thanks, champ.
24:57 Thanks.