By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

MINNEAPOLIS — The expectations for Iowa’s women’s basketball to make a Final Four run this year started within seconds of the Hawkeyes’ loss to LSU in the national championship game last April.

The lessons that came from that run were pondered when the Hawkeyes talked during the first day of the Big Ten’s basketball media days at the Target Center.

The run to the Final Four in Dallas started with Caitlin Clark’s buzzer-beating shot to top Big Ten regular-season champion Indiana in the final game of the regular season. It continued with a three-game surge to the Big Ten Tournament title, including a 33-point pounding of Ohio State in the championship game.

Then came the NCAA tournament. Home wins over Southeastern Louisiana and Georgia, a regional semifinal win over Colorado, a regional final win over Louisville, the national semifinal win over top-ranked and unbeaten South Carolina, and then the loss to LSU.

It was four weeks of constant tension in game situations, combined with the unnecessary drama that came with all of that. And when it was over, the Hawkeyes were exhausted.

If anything, they learned that the final survivor is the one who can cope best with all that swirls around.

“I think, obviously, our program had never been to a national championship game, so it was a learning experience for all of us,” Clark said. “And our coaching staff had played in the Final Four either. But it’s almost like we’re using the knowledge of what we had last year to benefit us more this year.”

The Hawkeyes disappeared from the public eye for a while after their post-tournament celebration on the Pentacrest on the Iowa campus. They came back for summer workouts and then a trip to Italy and Croatia.

“We kind of took some time off after the foreign trip, and started practice a little later this year,” Clark said. “If you want to reach your goals in March and April, you want your bodies to be fresh. By the time you get to that point, you’re physically beat up, you’re mentally beat up.”

Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said her biggest lesson came at the Final Four, after the Hawkeyes had beaten South Carolina, 77-73.

That game had a late start, and by the time the Hawkeyes finished all of their post-game obligations, they didn’t get back to their hotel until after midnight. One unidentified starter was a player selected for the NCAA’s random drug testing, Bluder said, and didn’t return to the hotel until after 1 a.m.

“Looking back on it, and I know this is going to sound crazy, but I wish I wouldn’t have practiced on Saturday,” Bluder said. “We were so tired. There was the emotional high from beating South Carolina, getting back to our hotel incredibly late.

“And then we’re up at 9 doing media obligations again. And then we have team meetings, scouts. I wish we wouldn’t have left the hotel to go to an off-campus place to practice. I think that added to the emotional and physical drain of our team on that day.”

“That’s just how it works,” guard Gabbie Marshall said. “You play a great game, you win, you have to move on.

“Honestly, at the Final Four, we did so much media, gifting, and it felt like we did that more than actually practicing. At that point, it comes down to who’s mentally tougher. The game becomes more mental than physical, and it truly was in that Final Four. It was important for us to stay locked in, knowing the coaches would have us prepared, which they did.”

“When you get to those points, you’re not spending as much time practicing,” Clark said. “It’s reading the scouting report, watching film. At that point, you know who every team is. You’ve watched them on TV the entire year. Celebrating the win, beating South Carolina, moving on, it’s like, ‘You’re playing for a national title. We’re not satisfied there.’”

Clark said the intangibles were critical.

“Getting sleep, eating healthy, just simple things that might sound cliche,” Clark said. “You drink water. I remember I was cramping after the South Carolina game. Once I got back to the hotel, it was about getting a massage. I was chugging water, trying to get as much liquids in me.

“It’s definitely a challenge. But when you’re on that stage, it’s not something you shy away from.”

The Hawkeyes want to be on that stage again, and they understand the expectations.

The education from last March and April could make the biggest difference.

Photo: Iowa’s Caitlin Clark shoots a 3-pointer in last April’s national semifinal against South Carolina. (Brian Ray/hawkeyesports.com)