Iowa Women have Grit

conn53victor

conn53victor

Well-Known Member
Iowa women won a tough game tonight, coming from down ten with less than 10 minutes left to win 90-83. Logic had her fifth triple double. All four freshman played in the first have because of foul trouble for our three Ds- Doolittle, Disterhoft, and Dixon. Freshman Jennings continues to play great. Is there a stat for forcing jump balls? Buttenham plays tough with her international experience. She can play inside or out and shoots well. It is a great team to watch. Some match ups may give them trouble, but they play with grit and heart. They never gave up. And the lip reader behind us said that Bluder's technical came from, "That's terrible, that's awful. That's **** ****."
 
This team is the antidote for all those frustrated by performances of the football or men's BB teams. They play an entertaining style of ball, they play together, and they win. I have been to a lot of games the past few years because the wife is a big fan and it is a great family-friendly atmosphere. They are a blast.

And I am not one to automatically trumpet the women's game as "purer" or "more skilled" or some garbage like that. I like the men's game just fine (although college BB has to follow the NBA's lead and clean up the perimeter hand-checking). But when you see the product available at Iowa women's games, I am always surprised they are not drawing Iowa St. women's BB-like numbers.

By the way, Bluder has been killing it on the recruiting-trail lately.
 
As they did, last year, leading the BigTen in Scoring, assists and Field goal percentage, this team personifies the grit, confidence and BB smarts of its coach, Lisa Bluder. Coach Bluder is assembling a real FORCE to be reckoned with, with the IOWA Women hoops program.
 
Kudos to the women's team...that's awesome. I do however have a problem sometimes watching the speed of the women's game. If you turn from a men's game then go to the women's game, you think there is something wrong with the TV or the feed as it appears in some sort of delay. That being said, I'll watch them and root for them.
 
HawkIstate said:
As they did, last year, leading the BigTen in Scoring, assists and Field goal percentage, this team personifies the grit, confidence and BB smarts of its coach, Lisa Bluder. Coach Bluder is assembling a real FORCE to be reckoned with, with the IOWA Women hoops program.
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So she's fighting the mantra of mediocrity that her AD personifies. You go girl!
 
WinOneThisCentury said:
Kudos to the women's team...that's awesome. I do however have a problem sometimes watching the speed of the women's game. If you turn from a men's game then go to the women's game, you think there is something wrong with the TV or the feed as it appears in some sort of delay. That being said, I'll watch them and root for them.
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Certainly the men's and women's games are different. In college basketball, men run faster than women, but I sometimes feel that the men's game feels slower with their 35 second shot clock. Those extra five seconds makes some possessions drag. Even assuming easier non-conference games, the women are averaging 95 points/game so far. That ain't chopped liver.
 
HawkIstate said:
As they did, last year, leading the BigTen in Scoring, assists and Field goal percentage, this team personifies the grit, confidence and BB smarts of its coach, Lisa Bluder. Coach Bluder is assembling a real FORCE to be reckoned with, with the IOWA Women hoops program.
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I agree. I would rather watch the women's team than the men's team. The women can actually shoot the ball! Except for wrestling, this has been the best iowa sport's program in the last decade. Coach Bluder has done an excellent job. Unlike the men's team, the iowa women actually have guards who are competitive on a national level. In today's game, it's all about the guards.
 
WinOneThisCentury said:
Kudos to the women's team...that's awesome. I do however have a problem sometimes watching the speed of the women's game. If you turn from a men's game then go to the women's game, you think there is something wrong with the TV or the feed as it appears in some sort of delay. That being said, I'll watch them and root for them.
Click to expand...

There is definitely a difference. Since I have mostly been watching the women's game over the past few years, it is kind of hard adjusting to the speed of watching the men live; it almost seems frantic in comparison.

If it came down to watching a great men's team live or a great women's team, I would probably choose the great men's team. But with all due respect to the Iowa men, I would rather watch the Iowa women play.
 
Logic has her share of head scratching turnovers but the difference is she will almost always come back and make up for it on the defensive end. Dixon has amnesia when it comes to a missed shot and can get a shot off in the blink of an eye and I am pretty sure she hasn't air-balled (2) 3pt attempts in a game since perhaps junior high. Whitney Jennings is a little jitter bug who is scrappy and has extremely active hands on defense (something I was hoping to see with Dickerson). Doolittle is certainly not a banger inside but plays smart on the defensive, has a nice 15ft baseline jumper and can turn and shoot over either shoulder. Ally & Kali bring attitude and tenacity that is infectious.

I love shooting pics of both squads but it's a real shame to look up in the stands at women's games and feel like I have traveled back in time to the days of Lickliter from a men's crowd standpoint.
 
We should keep bumping this thread with every victory, maybe encourage a few of the frustrated men's fans to stop by on a different night for Bluder's bunch.

The women started slow last night vs. UNI (up 26-21 at half), but came out with their hair on fire in the second half (47-24 in the 2nd). Logic (recently named to the Wooden Top 30 pre-season list and Wade Watch list and coming off her 5th career triple-double) stuffed the stat sheet as per usual (13 pts, 7 reb, 4 asst, 2 stl). Ally Disterhoft had 18 (551 career points 5 games into her sophomore campaign). Doolittle and Dixon were quiet, but freshman Whitney Jennings had her 3rd straight double-digit scoring output (shooting above 50% with 9 steals during that stretch).
 
I was wondering about Claire Till too. She was a valuable if undersized post reserve last year and she's got pretty outside shot.
She has battled knee injuries in the past and that may be the problem now or maybe the talent level has pushed her back in the rotation.
 
hagarwood said:
I was wondering about Claire Till too. She was a valuable if undersized post reserve last year and she's got pretty outside shot.
She has battled knee injuries in the past and that may be the problem now or maybe the talent level has pushed her back in the rotation.
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I think it is new talent more than anything. She is scrappy, I am sure she will have some moments before the season is all said and done.
 
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