By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

Former Iowa women’s basketball coach Lisa Bluder will join the Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame next March.

Bluder, who coached Drake from 1990-2000 and played basketball at Northern Iowa, will be one of six inductees who will go into the Hall of Fame on March 7 in St. Louis during the Valley’s men’s basketball tournament.

Bluder began her coaching career at St. Ambrose, where she compiled a 169-36 mark in six seasons, leading the school to the NAIA Fab Four in 1989 and 1990. She won Valley tournament titles at Drake in 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000 and won the regular-season title in 1997, 1998 and 2000. She won 20 or more games in five of her last six seasons at Drake, and was a three-time Valley coach of the year.

Bluder was 188-105 at Drake. She then became Iowa’s all-time winningest coach with a record of 528-254.

Bluder led her teams to 22 postseason appearances (18 NCAA and four WNIT). She was a three-time Big Ten Coach of the Year (2001, 2008, 2010), and was the WBCA Regional Coach of the Year four times (2001,2008, 2018, 2019). Iowa won five Big Ten Tournament titles under Bluder (2001, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024) and was twice Big Ten regular-season champion (2008, 2022). The Hawkeyes made back-to-back NCAA Final Four appearances in 2023 and 2024, reaching the national championship games both times. Bluder retired in May, finishing her career with an 884-396 record.

Joining Bluder in the 2025 Hall class are baseball coach Bob Warn of Indiana State, men’s basketball coach Bruce Weber of Southern Illinois, track & field All-American Tyler Mulder of UNI, coach and administrator Betty Wiseman of Belmont, and men’s basketball player Marcellus Sommerville of Bradley.

Sommerville also has an Iowa connection — he originally signed with the Hawkeyes under coach Steve Alford, and was redshirted in the 2001-02 season before transferring to Southwestern Illinois College.

Photo: Former Iowa women’s basketball coach Lisa Bluder has been selected as one of the inductees into the Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame next March. (Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire)