The Iowa women are seeded higher than their NCAA first round opponent Saturday, but coach Lisa Bluder says Gonzaga could easily match their sixth seed instead of being an 11. Bluder says they didn’t get any breaks with the higher seed. She says they feel like they have the toughest sixth seed in the country as they are not playing at home like other sixth seeds, and they are not playing on a neutral court and have to travel the farthest of anybody.
“So we’ve been dealt a tough blow,” Bluder says. Gonzaga has won eighteen straight games. Bluder says they doe have the advantage of having played Penn State, which has the same type of up-tempo style as the Zags. Bluder says it helps because Gonzaga shocks a lot of teams with their speed, but they have seen that twice against Penn State. Bluder says they will play the game with a chip on their shoulder.
Bluder says everyone in the whole country thinks they are not the team that is going to win, “so that kind of irritates you as a competitor.” The Hawkeyes come into the game at at 22-8, while Gonzag is 28-4. Game time is three p.m. Saturday.