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Milestone win for Bluder

Lisa Bluder came to Iowa 14 years ago looking to continue a winning tradition established by C. Vivian Stringer. On Monday night she passed the legendary coach in wins at the University of Iowa following the Hawkeyes 90-84 win over Northwestern. Following the win, Coach Bluder met with the media to discuss her milestone win and what it means to her.
COACH BLUDER: Really good victory tonight. I thought we made it a little hard at the end. We missed a couple of free throws there and got careless against the press a little bit. But at the same time, Northwestern is a good team, much improved team. I'm thrilled at the five players in double figures, that we out rebounded them, we scored very well tonight. Our defense obviously has a little to be desired tonight, but at the same time we did what it takes to win, and that's the most important thing. We've got this week off to a good start, and that is important.
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Q. How tough are milestone games like this?
COACH BLUDER: Really, you don't think about them once they get going. You think about it because you guys ask. But other than that you really don't spend a whole lot of time thinking about it. You're preparing for Northwestern. You're trying to get your team ready to play Northwestern, and that's the most important thing.
Q. Now that it's over (inaudible)?
COACH BLUDER: We're not going to do this next game? No, there really was no way. We're going to get it, right, it's just a matter of time. We just wanted it sooner rather than later, so there was really no wait at all.
Q. (inaudible)
COACH BLUDER: She is a very difficult match up just because she's so athletic and they're playing her out of position because she's really a wing player playing in the 5 position, so it's a very hard match up. She did a great job tonight. She's a very good player.
Q. Coach, what does this milestone mean?
COACH BLUDER: When I came here 14 years ago, I was just thankful that Dr. Grant gave me a five year contract and that I was going to be around for five years, and that's all I really thought about at the time. I'm very thankful to her, Jan and Jenni who have been here the entire time, they deserve so much of this because they have been a part of every single one of these victories, and I couldn't think of two better people to go through it with. So I'm very thankful for their friendship and their loyalty over all these years. Both of them have had opportunities and they've believed and they've stayed here, so I'm very thankful for them. Then you think about all the kids, Lindsey Meder came up, that was very cool to see Lindsey on the video board because you really think about all the kids you get to coach, which makes it very fun.
Q. (Inaudible.)
COACH BLUDER: Yeah, that was a surprise to see well, the entire thing was a surprise actually, but you know, Vivian is just she's such a great coach. She's a Hall of Famer. She's a person that got this program started in the right direction, and I'm just glad that we have a friendship. I'm glad that we can share some similar experiences. We both sat in that seat for a lot of years, and we both love this place immensely. It was pretty special to have her on there.
Q. Sam had a triple double last week. Do you think she was even better tonight?
COACH BLUDER: I know, she only had a double double. She's slacking, isn't she? She's slacking on us. Yeah, you were a couple rebounds away from another triple double. Sam to me I just have never coached a kid like this before at the point guard, and she's so much fun because I really feel like in every game we're in control. She does so many things for us in so many different areas, I really consider myself fortunate to be able to coach her.
Q. Were you wearing those reading glasses when the streak started?
COACH BLUDER: I was not. I was not.
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