Iowa’s defense dominated Southeastern Louisiana in a 95-43 victory in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament. Southeastern Louisiana Coach Ayla Guzzardo criticized Iowa’s defense before the game, but they proved her wrong with their impressive performance. Iowa’s zone defense particularly flustered the Lions, forcing them to take outside shots and finishing with just 4 of 22 from beyond the arc. Iowa’s guard Kate Martin responded to Guzzardo’s comments by saying that they do take defense seriously, and their performance showed just that. Iowa’s next game is against Georgia, with a Sweet 16 berth on the line.
Iowa’s Zone Defense Flusters Southeastern Louisiana in NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament
In a pre-tournament interview with WDSU-TV, Southeastern Louisiana Coach Ayla Guzzardo expressed her dissatisfaction with Iowa’s defense. She said that they were “not a big defensive team” and “don’t really want to play defense as much as we love to play defense.” However, in their first-round game in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament, Iowa proved Guzzardo wrong with a resounding 95-43 win.
Southeastern Louisiana struggled against Iowa’s zone defense, shooting only 25% from the field and 18% from beyond the arc. The Lions managed to score only 11 points in the second half, going 3-for-32 from the field. Guzzardo credited Iowa’s “great game plan” for their dominant performance.
Southeastern Louisiana’s inability to hit shots from the perimeter was particularly frustrating. Iowa’s zone defense forced the Lions to settle for outside shots, and they finished the game 4 of 22 from beyond the arc, worse than their season average of 30%.
Guzzardo had anticipated Iowa’s zone defense but did not believe it was necessary, saying that she thought Iowa could guard them man-to-man. However, Iowa’s man-to-man defense was not as effective as they had hoped, and they quickly switched to their zone defense.
The zone defense not only flustered Southeastern Louisiana but also helped Iowa conserve their energy for their next game. Coach Lisa Bluder explained that playing a zone defense allowed them to “preserve our legs a little bit” ahead of their game against Georgia on Sunday.
Guzzardo had also talked about making Iowa star guard Caitlin Clark’s life “miserable” and said that her players were “not scared of anybody.” However, Iowa’s dominant performance suggested otherwise, and Southeastern Louisiana’s players struggled to find their rhythm against Iowa’s defense.
Despite Guzzardo’s pre-tournament comments, Iowa was not fazed and put on an impressive defensive display. The Hawkeyes will now face Georgia with a Sweet 16 berth on the line.
Iowa’s guard Kate Martin responded to Southeastern Louisiana Coach Ayla Guzzardo’s remarks about Iowa’s defense by saying, “We take a little personal when people say we don’t want to play defense because that’s not true…We do a lot of good things on defense.” Their 52-point win over Southeastern Louisiana in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament shows just how capable Iowa’s defense is.
Friday’s Results
In other games, Virginia Tech defeated Chattanooga 58-33, and South Dakota State beat USC 62-57 in overtime. Ole Miss won 78-41 against Gonzaga, while Iowa dominated Southeastern Louisiana with a 95-43 victory. Georgia also won their game against Florida State, 66-54, and Stanford crushed Sacred Heart 92-49.
Greenville Regional 1:
South Carolina defeated Norfolk State 72-40, Maryland won against Holy Cross 93-61, Notre Dame beat Southern Utah 82-56, and Arizona defeated West Virginia 75-62. South Florida won against Marquette 67-65, and Mississippi State defeated Creighton 81-66.
Greenville Regional 2:
Princeton won against NC State 64-63, Utah dominated Gardner-Webb 103-77, LSU defeated Hawaii 73-50, and Michigan won against UNLV 71-59.
Saturday’s Games
Greenville Regional 1:
Oklahoma will face Portland, while UCLA takes on Sacramento State.
Greenville Regional 2:
Indiana faces Tennessee Tech, Oklahoma State will play against Miami, and Washington State will go against Florida Gulf Coast. Villanova will face off against Cleveland State.
Seattle Regional 3:
Tennessee will play against Saint Louis, Ohio State goes against James Madison, UConn faces Vermont, Iowa State plays Toledo, Baylor will face Alabama, and North Carolina plays St. John’s.
Seattle Regional 4:
Colorado faces Middle Tennessee, Louisville goes against Drake, Duke faces Iona, and Texas will play East Carolina.
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