Postgame Quotes
Wisconsin vs. Iowa
January 13, 2016
Kohl Center– Madison, Wis.
 
 
Wisconsin Head Coach Bobbie Kelsey
Opening statement:
"Obviously, we're disappointed, but we had some looks and we had some chances. We had a couple good looks there at the end. Avyanna (Young) had her look. You've just got to knock them down. I'm proud of us coming back. We were down and we really fought back. That second and third quarter kind of hurt us when we only scored nine and 10 points. We need to look at those quarters and see where we were missing the mark. The last quarter coming back and holding them to six points, which is pretty low for 10 minutes of play. We could've done that consistently throughout the game. We may see them again."
 
On if she sees any trends happening throughout Iowa's streaks:
"No, not necessarily. I just think that we didn't execute our offense very well. We gave up some easy looks on defense. I think the shot clock was running off and we left the corner and she hit a three. Another time, they were about to have a shot and the little number 11 was way out, and either Buttenham or Peschel got it and we fouled her. We just made some crucial mistakes here and there. It's never one person. It's a team thing. Win as a team, lose as a team."
 
On what the key is to getting good shots against them:
"We don't see a lot of zone in games. We go through it in practice. We probably go through it every day even if we don't see it, so that way when you do see it, you have some reps at it. That's something that coaches can do. We can definitely do that better. It's not Dakota's fault. Sometimes as a player, you're just trying to create something and you see a hole that I don't see on the bench. We've all got to tweak things and try to fix it. I thought we adjusted to the zone when we started attacking on that one side. Either they're going to block you or foul you, one or the other. If you go up strong and try to put it in the rim, there's nothing they're going to be able to do besides foul you or you're going to make the basket or both. Michala showed a lot more energy tonight. I saw old Michala tonight. Her whips and her urgency to do things. She had a nice duck-down to Marsha."
 
On Avyanna's game tonight:
"I think this was her best game in terms of finishing at the rim. It's going to give her confidence. She feels really bad about the last shot but it didn't come down to that. Of course if you missed it, you're the player that missed it and you're going to feel bad. At least she knows she cares. She'll make that shot the next time, guaranteed."
 
 
Senior G Nicole Bauman
On how she felt taking the potential game-tying shot:
"Obviously your adrenaline is high, you're rushing it, and you're trying to get it up as fast as you can. They were both decent shots. They could've gone in, 50-50 chance."
 
On if there's any encouragement from the way this played out:
"I think it just shows that we have to play tough for four quarters. The fact that we got in that hole, we can't let that happen. If we didn't let that happen, we probably would've beaten them by a decent amount. I think just working on that and going hard the entire game."
 
Senior G Dakota Whyte
On what the key is to getting good shots against them:
"Attacking the zone, but again I felt like I held the ball a lot so that probably slowed us down, so I take the blame on that. Just being able to attack efficiently and hit people when they're open. I think that if I would've done a better job, we would've had a better chance at that."


Iowa Head Coach Lisa Bluder
Opening comments about the game:
"Very happy to come out of here with a victory. I thought Wisconsin's been playing extremely well, I was impressed with their Penn State victory over the weekend so I feel great about that. I thought our defense held for us tonight, we rebounded them by eight, so that was great. Our turnovers had been a problem for us, so we got those down a little bit tonight so that was good to see. Ally Disterhoft played again an unbelievable game. She's 8-for-9 from the field, including 1-for-1 from three and 1-for-1 from the free-throw line, and five rebounds. I thought Christina Buttenham was a nice spark off the bench for us, she comes off the bench and leads us in rebounding, including four offensive rebounds so I'm happy with our bench play. We outscored their bench 12-2 so I'm happy with our bench play."
 
On Wisconsin's comeback:
"Wisconsin did a good job of intensifying their defense in that fourth quarter. They've kind of been playing a sagging man-to-man and then in the fourth quarter they changed it and we didn't change to match that. We kind of stopped running our offense a little bit, I think their intensity change kind of shocked us a little bit, they got us on our heels a little bit. But again, I'm really happy with our defense. I thought we did a good job holding them well below their average."
 
On watching the team evolve and players step up:
"At times it's been really gratifying because nobody expected us to do anything this year. It's exciting anytime you get a victory, or the way we played non-conference, I thought we played well. So that's extremely gratifying but other times it can be extremely frustrating because you expect maybe a little bit more out of them than you should—some young players. So it's probably given me a little bit of gray hair this year." 
 
 
Junior G Ally Disterhoft
On playing well and winning a close game:
"I think it's just rewarding collectively to get a win. Wisconsin's a good team, they've been playing well as of late. It's tough to go into opposing team's gyms and get a win—especially in the Big Ten. So I think we're just collectively happy. Like Coach Bluder said, Christina Buttenham coming in and playing well, people down the stretch stepping up and hitting their shots, so obviously it feels good personally but it always feels good to get that team win."
 
On losing previous seniors and having to step up:
"I think just playing with people like Sam, Alyssa, Bethany, you see the intensity they play with, the passion they play with, and that's something that I kind of learned from them and try to emulate when I go out there. Having graduated those seniors, I have been called upon to step up in those certain situations and I love that. I want the ball in my hands, I want to create for myself and for my teammates. So it's an honor to have the coaches trust in me and if they give me the ball hopefully I can make something happen—that's the plan."