Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder Aired Several Grievances After Loss to Nebraska
No. 2 Iowa lost a chance to remain tied with Ohio State atop the Big Ten women’s basketball standings with an 82–79 defeat at Nebraska on Sunday.
The Cornhuskers’ upset win was likely a major consolation to fans who lined up early and packed Pinnacle Bank Arena in hopes of seeing Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark break the NCAA women’s basketball scoring record, only to see her fall eight points short of the mark.
Iowa coach Lisa Bluder was surely upset enough about her team’s loss, blowing a 14-point fourth-quarter lead, only their third of the season (and second in conference play).
After the game, Bluder had plenty of gripes for a Nebraska official. The coach could be heard airing her grievances with the media operations and sports information departments as Cornhuskers center Alexis Markowski spoke to reporters.
“We got a flight to catch,” Bluder complained. “This is bulls---. This is not Big Ten protocol. They play music while you shoot free throws?”
Here's the audio from my external microphone during today's press conference. As Alexis Markowski was answering a question, you can hear Lisa Bluder trying to get into the media room, saying, "this is bullshit, this is not Big Ten protocol... they play music while you shoot free… pic.twitter.com/f34ttfmYoM
— Owen Siebring (@owensiebring) February 11, 2024
The “protocol” Bluder referred to is a conference rule dictating that the road team is supposed to speak to the media first. Yet Nebraska players were out there for their postgame press conference before Iowa was ready.
Music playing in the arena while the Hawkeyes shot free throws would appear to be more of a concern. However, Clark told reporters that she didn’t even notice it.
Up next for Iowa is a home matchup with Michigan on Thursday. Nebraska travels to No. 5 Ohio State on Wednesday.