The Iowa women open defense of their Big Ten tournament title Friday with a first round game against Indiana. Iowa coach Lisa Bluder says her team is ready for the challenge. She says they have good momentum after winning four of their last five. At 17-9 overall and 10-6 in conference play, Bluder feels the Hawkeyes have done enough to gain an N-C-A-A tournament bid. She says they finished as the fourth best team in the third best conference in America. But, she says the need to win the first game of the tournament to push away any doubts in the tourney selection committee’s mind.
