Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Iowa Women's Basketball: How the Hawkeyes can Beat LSU, Plus Weekend Recap
Episode Date: April 1, 2024Trent Condon returns to break down the LSU/Iowa women's basketball match up in the Elite 8 in today's Locked on Hawkeyes Podcast.A break down of how each team got here and what we can expect to see fr...om LSU. Then some thoughts on what the Hawkeyes may try to do to slow down Angel Reese, Morrow, Johnson and the rest of the Tigers team.A weekend recap to finish up with great performances from the Iowa baseball and Hawkeye softball teams.  Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! RobinhoodRobinhood has the only IRA that gives you a 3% boost on every dollar you contribute when you subscribe to Robinhood Gold. Now through April 30th, Robinhood is even boosting every single dollar you transfer in from other retirement accounts with a 3% match. Available to U.S. customers in good standing. Robinhood Financial LLC (member SIPC), is a registered broker dealer.Amazon Fire TVFire TV recently created Fire TV Channels to deliver a constant supply of the latest videos from your favorite sports brands, all for free. That includes all of us at Locked On and most of the big pro leagues and college conferences as well. To Learn More, visit www.amazon.com/LockedOnFireTVLinkedInThese days every new potential hire can feel like a high stakes wager for your small business. That’s why LinkedIn Jobs helps find the right people for your team, faster and for free. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/lockedoncollege. Terms and conditions apply.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGEfor $20 off your first purchase.FanDuelNew customers, join today and you’ll get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS if your first bet of FIVE DOLLARS or more wins. Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started. eBay MotorsFrom brakes to exhaust kits and beyond, eBay Motors has over 122 million parts to keep your ride-or-die alive. With all the parts you need at the prices you want, it’s easy to bring home that big win. Keep your ride-or-die alive at EbayMotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)
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We have waited 364 days for the rematch, and it's here.
Iowa LSU.
How did the Hawkeyes pull off the win and beat the team they couldn't a year ago
in the national championship game?
We break it all down today.
Locked on, Hawkeyes.
You are locked on, Hawkeyes.
Your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Part of the Locked On Podcast Network.
Your team every day.
Hey, welcome in.
I'm Trent Condon, and this is the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast.
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Well, here we are, a rematch of the national championship game from a year ago.
It's Iowa.
It's LSU.
The winner this time will move on to the final four.
The loser sees their season come to an end and programs certainly changing going forward.
This is as big as it's going to get in women's college basketball.
Yes, there is still a final four in front of us.
There is still a national championship game.
But this one, boy, the intrigue is incredibly immense for this one.
And we're going to talk a lot about what's happening between the lines.
We're going to break down the game.
And that's what we do here on Locked on Hawkeyes.
But there is a lot more to this game than just what's happening between the lines.
And in a way, it can be
unfortunate, but in a way, this is about the growth of the sport. And what we're seeing right now,
a huge portion of that is the extras that go into it. And that's why the country is watching. That
is why the world is going to be watching this one. And it's going to do numbers unlike anything
ever seen before for an Elite Eight matchup in women's college basketball. It's going
to be new numbers that are through the roof. And we've seen through the first two rounds of the NCAA
tournament, the win against Holy Cross for Iowa, the win against West Virginia on Monday night,
how big those numbers are. Numbers aren't in from the weekend and the easy victory against Colorado,
but this one's going to be intense. And we're going to talk about here at the top what it's
going to take.
So a little bit of an overview.
Now, I know there's a lot of people out there that are maybe just starting to dip their
toe into women's basketball.
Maybe you're a newbie.
You haven't been a part of women's basketball for a number of years.
And with that, maybe you just don't have the same kind of depth and breadth of the
other teams that are out there.
Now, I think we all know LSU.
Even if you jumped on the bandwagon a year ago
and that incredible run for Iowa getting to the national championship game,
you obviously know that.
And you know the star player in Angel Reese.
I think most everybody certainly knows about her,
knows about her going back to her days.
If you've been around for a while,
going back to her days when she began her career at Maryland,
went down there at LSU. There has been some histrionics.
There's been games that she has missed this season.
There's been a lot of question marks about Angel Reese and what was happening with her.
The notoriety that came with winning the national championship a year ago,
a flash in the ring and doing the you can't see me sign to Caitlin Clark at the end of the contest.
That created even more headlines and these are things that as you grow the game are important you need
more superlatives you need more angles and that is something that absolutely has happened with this
but as we saw in the press conferences on Sunday this is a rivalry that is being manufactured in
a different way and it's being manufactured by
the places that promote the sport, ESPN. It's also being promoted in places that don't promote
the sport, your news networks, those kinds of things. And there's an aspect of that. There's
a race aspect. There is a lot of different angles to this one that, frankly, at times can be a little
bit uncomfortable.
And at times I've seen the LSU fan base look ugly.
I've seen the Iowa fan base look ugly.
And that's the unfortunate part of this, because these are two fan bases that love
their teams.
And as you look at LSU historically, the way that they travel, just right up the road from
us on the wrong side of the river over in Omaha, we see it on a yearly basis.
Even when LSU doesn't qualify for the College World Series in Omaha,
we see them travel up there, and you see Purple and Gold all over the place doing that.
And they travel incredibly well for all their sports.
And the same thing, obviously, for the Iowa Hawkeyes.
And Hawkeye fans here know that.
Obviously, what we've seen throughout the years, you go back to 1980 and that incredible
season of year number three of Hayden Frye getting to the Rose Bowl, the Bumblebees descending on
Pasadena in that first Rose Bowl under Hayden Frye, and just the way that they have traveled
historically for all sports. It has continued with women's basketball and built with women's
basketball. Now, it's easy when you have a once-in-a-lifetime player,
a generational talent like Kaitlyn Clark.
I mean, it's easy to follow along because you're watching a player
and doing things that we just haven't seen before.
We haven't seen a player play at this level and take her team to this level
that we haven't seen for Iowa basketball.
Made a Final Four back in the early 90s under C. Vivian Stringer, and then it was a long drought. And it was a drought with good basketball
and good teams and programs that had won Big Ten championships, had some success in the NCAA
tournament, but couldn't get to this level. And here we are. LSU is loaded once again. They went
into the transfer portal and brought in two of the biggest names out of the portal.
One, Anissa Morrow.
And that was a name that I know early on a lot of Hawkeye fans were very interested in Morrow.
She comes in from DePaul.
She put up huge numbers at DePaul.
She was a high-volume type of player.
Averages numbers down from what she was historically, certainly this season,
because the offense isn't all through her.
You know, when she was at DePaul the last couple of years,
she's out there averaging, what were the numbers?
Just had them here.
25.7 a game a year ago, 22 during her freshman campaign,
and averaging a double-double.
This season, down to 16.5 points per game, 9.9 rebounds,
but doing it certainly much more efficiently.
Another thing that you have to know with Morrow, she's an excellent free throw shooter, over 80% on the season. That's something
definitely to keep your eye on as we're kind of talking about a game plan. We'll get into
that game plan and how this Iowa team is going to pull off the upset here. So that's a new name.
And the other new name and one that we got to know incredibly well a year ago is Haley Van Lith.
Van Lith, of course, at LSU a season ago, who Iowa beat
in the Elite Eight to punch their ticket. Was that the player that Kaitlyn was not doing the
you can't see me to? The Iowa side says it was just to their own bench. Maybe we'll find out
down the line exactly the full story on that one. Van Lith, though, excellent shooter from the
outside. Not a great playmaker, but more of a shooter on this team.
But she still can fill it up from the outside, averaging nearly 12 points per game.
But Angel Reese is obviously one of the headliners here back from a year ago.
The other name that you'll remember incredibly well from last season is Flage Johnson.
And now just a sophomore, last year in her freshman campaign.
She is a playmaker.
She's a facilitator.
She's incredibly good with the ball in her freshman campaign. She is a playmaker. She's a facilitator. She's
incredibly good with the ball in her hands. She can do a lot of different things and a good defender
on top of it at 5'10". I would anticipate, and that was kind of the word that we got during the
press conferences on Sunday, that Flagey Johnson's going to get the assignment, at least the first
crack at Kaitlyn Clark and trying to slow her down and certainly do that. You look at the game a year
ago, Kaitlyn Clark 9-22 from the floor,
8-19 from the three-point line.
As we saw in the game against Colorado,
one thing we've seen this season from Kaitlyn Clark,
and of course, had a ridiculous year last year,
but even this year, even better.
More efficient with the basketball.
But we've seen her, when the three-point shot's not falling
at the level that we're used to, that we've seen her when the three point shots not falling at the level that we're
used to, that we've seen her even more this season, be able to get to the rim and finish
that way and be able to be a score in that side.
Now we saw the other part of it.
And that's of course the passing ability, which has always been elite out of Caitlin
Clark and the assist numbers through the roof year after year after year.
But we're seeing just some of the beautiful passes that she made against
Colorado were just absolutely ridiculous in that part of it.
It'll be Johnson that'll get the assignment there.
Not a real deep LSU team, and that's something we're going to get into a little bit more
here.
Is there perhaps an opportunity with the lack of depth of this team that potentially this
could be a one where you see Iowa be able to exploit that a
little bit and make it go in. Another new name out there, Mikayla Williams, a freshman. She's
been really good this year. Doesn't put up huge numbers overall, but one of the best three-point
shooters on the team. Her and Flage both up there, 37% for Williams and 39.5% from Johnson. So that's
what you get there. Another name to know is Smith,
the forward six foot two, another one inside that can do some damage. And she had eight points,
nine rebounds the last time out against USA, UCLA talented team. A talent is not the question.
We're going to talk deeper about the game. We're going to break it down what it's going to take
for Iowa here. And what's the game plan going to be. You go back to the last time Iowa pulled off a massive upset.
Well, they did it with a game plan that nobody saw coming.
What does Lisa Bluter and company have up their sleeve?
We're going to talk about that as we continue here, breaking down Iowa LSU.
That's what we're doing here.
We got a weekend recap as well coming your way on everything Hawkeye related. As we continue, this is Locked on Hawkeyes.
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Welcome back. It's the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. I'm Trent Condon. And as always,
thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. All right, it's the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. I'm Trent Condon, and as always, thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day.
All right, let's continue to break this thing down.
And game plan, schematically,
what's Iowa going to do to pull off the upset?
A year ago, Iowa got blitzed in the first half of that game.
And it was just one of those times where in basketball,
you just gotta throw your hands up.
And that was the case in the first half of that game.
Jasmine Carson came in 55 of 170 from three.
That's right.
Now she took a ton of them.
She was shooting 32%.
She hits five in the first half, goes seven of eight in the game.
And that really is the difference in the basketball game where Iowa loses to LSU.
Iowa made a comeback.
They got it back within eight.
Then there was an awful, just brutal call against Kaitlyn Clark on the technical fall.
They called a delay of game as she threw the ball behind her back, back to the baseline.
It was an awful call.
That referee crew was as bad as you're going to find.
As every dayers know, I am not one
that likes to blame officiating. There's bad calls, we'll call them out. If there's bad games, bad
whistles, absolutely. But I hate to fall into that trap. I think it's a loser mentality. I hate to
have that as an excuse. But in this game, the way this goes and the way this is called is going to
go a long way in determining who's going
to win this basketball game that's unfortunate but it is a reality we talked about lsu and their
lack of depth they go 70 this is not an overly deep team and if you can find a way to get reese
and morrow and foul trouble they just don't have a whole lot there you do wonder if this is going
to be a game and we've talked about that really throughout the course of this season. Is there going to be a game come NCAA tournament time where you're going
to need the ability to make a big play, to come in, give you a good six, eight, ten minutes out of your
backup bakes? Is this the time that we see Addison O'Grady go out there, you know, have six points,
six rebounds, something like that, Draw some fouls. That could be absolutely
huge because they don't have your prototypical center. With the way that Iowa plays with Hannah
Stolke at the five position, look, she's more of a four. And then she can beat most every post down
the floor. And that's what they do when they love to run the floor with her and get her out and get
Caitlin on those throw heads. That's what they do. And they said, you know what? Instead of trying to
just play the traditional way, we're going to play our own way. And it's worked out incredibly well.
Iowa's the best offense in the country, both in scoring and efficiency. 118 points per 100
possessions is not even close to the number one team in the country in that aspect. And a big
reason of it is what they do there. But against a team with a couple of good post players,
what does Iowa do on the defensive end of the floor? A little bit deeper on LSU.
They're sixth in defensive rating. Very good defensive team. Eleventh in offensive rating,
so they can beat you that way. Third in rebound rate. And I think that's another huge key
for this one. If I was going to win this basketball game, look, they don't have to win
on the boards. They don't have to out-rebound LSU,
but they have to keep it relatively close. They can't get out-rebounded like they did in the Final Four game a year ago against South Carolina, where they're, what, doubled up in that game,
basically, with all the offensive rebounds. And that's the big component. You can't afford LSU
to get second chances. That means that everybody's got to be involved. It can't just be Hannah
Stolke. It just can't be Kaitlyn Clark. Everybody needs to be helping out on the boards. That means that everybody's got to be involved. It can't just be Hannah Stolke.
It just can't be Kaitlyn Clark. Everybody needs to be helping out on the boards. That's Kate Martin going in there. We know she can do that. Sydney Affolter very well could be the X factor. We'll
get into her a little bit later on and what she can do in this one. Those are the things that
you're going to need. If it's say 35-30 in rebounds, LSU wins it, you're in good shape.
If it's, say, 35-30 in rebounds, LSU wins it, you're in good shape.
The way I was built, you can handle that.
There's no doubt about it.
One of the most interesting numbers, though, that I found digging into the analytics of LSU is LSU shoots it okay from the outside this season, but in terms of three-point shooting
rate, they're 356 in the country, meaning there's 360 teams. They take the fourth
fewest three-pointers of anybody in college basketball. They don't shoot a great 32.1%
from behind the arc this season. A reason for that, Angel Reese, 11%, 21% this season for Morrow.
She hasn't shot it very well from the outside. Van Leth at 34.
We talked about Johnson and Williams, the top three-point shooters there. So that's something
there. We go back to the game plan that Iowa had against South Carolina, and they weren't going to
use the same game plan against LSU. I thought it was weird, a little bit interesting, but this is
what teams do. This is what coaches do.
Trying to find motivation at all different angles, right? We know Kaitlyn Clark does it,
and we know it comes from all kinds of greats. And with Kim Mulkey, who's a great coach,
great person, different conversation. She's a great coach though. And the way that she is able to motivate her teams and to take any kind of slight, any kind of negativity, and turn them into ammunition for her team, she's an elite at that.
She is absolutely at the top of college basketball as coaches
and able to do that.
And she used that last year, the game plan that I had,
which was very simple.
We're going to sag off of every shooter out there.
We're going to let them shoot the basketball from the outside.
And we think that is our best chance to win. Coach Fitz was the one that came up with the
game plan. She had the scout in that one. I would love to know before the game who has a scout on
this one. Is it Fitz? Is it Amy? Abby Stamp? Is she the one that had the call here? Is it Jan Jensen?
We'll see. Whoever has the scout, though, what they're going to come up
with here. They've been scouting these teams. Coach Bluter talked about that. They also had a
lot of scouts going on to UCLA, and a lot of work's been done that you never have to worry about.
That's what happens, though, obviously, in college basketball. When you get to the NCAA tournament,
you're scouting the potential teams that you're going to face, and they've been doing the work on LSU. You can also imagine they've been doing work throughout
the course of the season. Let's be honest. This one is different. When you're talking about
motivation and the way that game went a year ago, Kaitlin Clark and the rest of the team
handled it beautifully. There were no excuses after the game. There was no complaining.
beautifully there were no excuses after the game there was no complaining there was none of that from the team it was respect to the champions caitlyn clark could have made a bigger deal
out of angel reese and the disrespectful nature that she showed on the floor
caitlyn also knows that she does some of those same kind of things and she handled it right
but now this is your last chance.
This is the last opportunity.
There is no coming back.
Kaitlyn Clark will be off to the WNBA.
She very well could be off to the Olympic team.
This could be the final time we see Kaitlyn Clark in a Hawkeye jersey.
And you know that motivation for the greats, what it can be like. I think
you're going to see her playing at a high level. Now, one thing you do worry about is
Kaitlyn can rev a little bit hot. She can, when those times happen, and we've seen them
from time to time, just go back to Monday night against West Virginia. Go back to the
first game of the NCAA tournament against Holy Cross. And that meter's ticking a little bit too high. That could
be a problem. She's normally
able to right herself and be
okay. And I think that'll be the
case again here. But something to keep
an eye on. My game plan
is much like what we saw last
time. Now you cannot completely sag
off of all the shooters like they did last
year against South Carolina.
But make them make shots.
Make them do that.
Begins inside with Morrow and with Reese.
It's a really difficult combination to stop.
And if this game gets into a slugfest, if this game gets the physical brand, if this is the old school Pistons type of game, we're talking 1990s NBA basketball translated here
to the women's game.
I was in deep trouble. And they very well could get run out of the gym again.
If the game's called tight, if it is an up and down affair, if this is a team game where I was
able to dictate pace, I think they have a really good shot. I anticipate you're going to see some
switching defenses. I also wonder how deep they're going to go in the bench.
I talked about O'Grady.
I think there's a real potential for needing her.
Even A.J. Edinger.
Could she come in and give some minutes?
What about Taylor McCabe?
What about Kylie Feerbach?
Right now, I'm tightening the reins.
I'm saying we're going to go with the group that got us here.
And we're really going to shorten down that bench outside of the post players.
And it's going to be Kaitlin for 40 and Kate Martin for 40 and Gabby Marshall for 38.
Maybe get her a breather for a minute each half because of what she's going to be doing defensively on the other end of the floor.
And Hannah Stolke, stay out of foul trouble, but go with the group that got you.
And the one starter that I didn't mention
is Sidney Affolter.
And with Affolter out there,
this team is built differently
than they were with Molly Davis.
And Molly Davis not going to play.
And if they advance,
that might be a different conversation
we'll get to for next week.
But in the here and now,
Sidney Affolter,
the playmaking ability that she has,
the toughness that she shows.
I mean, how many charges
has she taken this year?
The ability to rebound
very well at her size.
The physicality that she plays with
inside, outside game offensively.
She has so many different tenets
and so many different things.
She played two minutes in the game last year
against LSU.
When you're talking about difference makers,
players that were there a year ago,
that's when we just don't know.
I think a Folter is going to be ready
for this moment.
Final thoughts on the game
and a weekend recap.
Easy for me to say.
For Iowa sports over the weekend,
we'll do that as we continue.
It's here, the big one, Iowa LSU.
So pumped up for this one.
We continue.
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Try and count it back with you one final time.
All right, so we talked about the gameplay.
What's it going to take?
Keep rebounding at bay.
Don't get dominated on that facet.
Shoot the ball well from the outside.
That's an angle.
It goes without saying, but definitely have to do it in a matchup like this.
Stay out of foul trouble.
Get them in foul trouble.
There is
a path to get the victory here. If LSU goes out and hits 12 three-pointers, it very well could be
game over. But if Iowa can dictate pace, if they can get LSU a little bit uncomfortable, get them
in some foul trouble, get them doubting themselves a little bit, And let's keep Kim Mulkey off the floor. How about that?
Talked about the refs and the way that they call the game. Don't allow her to intimidate you. And
that's what she does. It's an intimidation tactic that works incredibly well. We've seen this from
coaches in the past. But Kim Mulkey, what she did being on the floor throughout the course of the
national championship game a year ago was an embarrassment.
It was an embarrassment for the sport.
It was an embarrassment for women's college basketball.
It was an embarrassment for LSU.
Whining and pleading and begging on the sideline and doing it while games were going on.
You can't do that.
So this crew, show some gumption.
Don't let her intimidate you.
Because if you did, and if she does,
I was probably going to be in trouble in this one.
Every time that I've had doubt about this Iowa women's basketball team,
they have responded.
I've had doubt about this game.
I've had concerns about it if we were going to see it.
When the bracket came out, I said, oh no. The way that they play, the physicality that they bring,
coupled with a Hall of Fame coacher, all those things are very difficult to overcome.
Caitlin has proven me wrong plenty of times before. Am I going to put a bet in for LSU
take the point in half I'll just play the money line
I will you can find it over at FanDuel
Iowa's slight favorite in the game
I'll do it as an emotional hedge
if I'm wrong I'm going to be smiling ear to ear
if I'm right I'll have a couple of bucks in the pocket
final score LSU 81, Iowa 73.
And LSU moves on to another Final Four.
That is my prediction for the game.
Finally, on the Hawkeye front this weekend,
Iowa baseball with another series victory needed this one once again
as they get it done in games two and three against Minnesota.
Jumped out to a 7-0 game in game one of the series,
and then promptly gave up, what was it, 14 straight?
Something like that.
I don't have it in front of me, but lost on Friday night,
then bounced back and got the win on Saturday and Sunday.
That's two consecutive victories.
Look, Iowa's got a ton of work to do to put together a resume
to be NCAA tournament good.
Disappointing for a team that was ranked in the top 25 preseason and certainly
a long ways away from that. But
if you keep stacking up series victories throughout the
course of the year, you're going to be in really
good shape going forward. Did what you needed to against
Minnesota and against Purdue. Schedule
is going to get a little bit more difficult here
in the coming weeks in the Big
Ten. And one other note
with the Iowa softball, how about Adams?
Getting a no-hter on Friday night?
Just a great, great work there. I know coach Gillespie's working hard, trying to get this
program rebuilt, get it back to what it was under coach Blevins for a number of years. And it's
taken longer than I think a lot of people wanted or hoped for, but they made that run a year ago
in what equates to the softball
and IT in winning that, which was great to see.
We'll see.
Building blocks just keep going.
It's tough to do in the Big Ten.
Big Ten is a great softball conference and has had a lot of success in past years, but
Iowa slowly but surely building things up and maybe more importantly, starting to reconnect
with those local kids.
We've seen a lot of good talent, unfortunately, from the state of Iowa
leave the state to play softball over the years.
A little weekend recap for you here as we get ready for tonight.
Iowa LSU, 6 o'clock on ESPN, and we will be back with you
with an instant reaction one way or the other
in your feeds coming up later this evening.
Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen.
Every day, we'll talk to you again tomorrow.
Go Hawks.