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Bluder Sets the NCAA Standard By Aaron Blau Watching four letters appear on a television screen during March Madness never gets old for University of Iowa women's basketball coach Lisa Bluder. Even after six straight years of seeing I-O-W-A pop up in a bracket during the selection show, Bluder knows that being chosen as one of the nation's best teams is never a small accomplishment. Iowa is the only team in the Big Ten Conference, and one of only 13 teams in the country, to have appeared in the last six NCAA Tournaments. The others are Baylor, Fresno State, DePaul, Tennessee, Stanford, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt, Duke, Georgia, Marist, Texas A&M, Connecticut, and Iowa State. The current NCAA Tournament streak is the secondlongest in school history, just behind the nine-straight tournament appearances for the Hawkeyes from 198694. Qualifying for the NCAA Tournament is something that Bluder doesn't take for granted. The figures speak to the expectations she has set for the program. "When you look at those numbers and hear those statistics, that kind of puts things in perspective," Bluder said. "It's pretty special to have that level of consistency." The level of NCAA Tournament consistency set by Bluder also shows the success being enjoyed by the program over a long period of time. Bluder has led the Hawkeyes to 123 wins over the six-year stretch, with five 20-win seasons and one season with 19 victories. "For us to be in the tournament six-straight years shows the stability of our program," Bluder said. "We have set a high level in our program and that level is to be competing in the NCAA Tournament every year." Former Hawkeyes Kelsey Cermak and Kachine Alexander began their careers in 2008 and started the six-year NCAA run as freshmen. They graduated in 2011 not knowing anything but finishing their seasons in the sport's biggest event. The same goes for the class of 2012 (Kamille Wahlin, Kelly Krei and Hannah Draxten) and 2013 (Morgan Johnson, Jaime Printy and Trisha Nesbitt). "I love it when a graduating class can leave here and say they ended every season playing the NCAA Tournament," Bluder said. "That's a very special statement. Not a lot of athletes can say that and that's an amazing feat." Six years of NCAA Tournament runs has created special memories for Bluder. One of the best memories during the current stretch came when members of this year's senior class were newcomers three years ago. The Hawkeyes were plagued with injuries in 2009-10, from a season-ending blood clot for JoAnn Hamlin, a stress fracture for All-American Kachine Alexander, and a season-ending back issue for Hannah Draxten. Those injuries forced Johnson, Printy and Nesbitt into key roles during the season. Iowa started the Big Ten season with a 1-6 mark, but finished 10-8, including an overtime win at Wisconsin, to clinch third place in the league. The Hawkeyes made a run to the Big Ten Tournament championship game and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. "Anytime you battle back from adversity, it makes it more special and more memorable," Bluder said. "When these seniors were freshmen, we had to deal with a lot of adversity. That season was an experience I will never forget. We won our first round game (against Rutgers), we were in California and we did it with a very young team. That's a run I will always remember." Adversity or not, the expectations for Bluder's squad is the NCAA Tournament. After six consecutive seasons, the standard has been reached. It looks to be just a matter of time before the school record for consecutive appearances reaches double figures under Bluder. 11