By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – If only they were all this easy.

Of course, Iowa women’s basketball coach Jan Jensen knows they won’t be, so it’s best to enjoy a mismatch when it happens.

And Iowa’s 94-57 victory over Toledo on Wednesday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena was a mismatch in every sense of the word.

The Hawkeyes led by 18 points after the first quarter, by 28 points at halftime and by 32 points after three quarters.

Iowa improved to 3-0 under Jensen, who is in her first season as head coach after having been promoted from Assistant Head Coach to head coach on the same day Lisa Bluder announced her retirement this past May.

Bluder retired after having led Iowa to an NCAA runner-up finish in each of the past two seasons.

Iowa also lost multiple starters from last season’s team, including two-time National Player of the Year Caitlin Clark.

So, there will undoubtedly be some growing pains this season, but that certainly wasn’t the case in Wednesday’s game as the Rockets had no answer for Iowa on either end of the floor.

Junior forward Hannah Stuelke led five Iowa players in double figures with 17 points, while Villanova transfer Lucy Olsen and junior guard Taylor McCabe scored 14 points apiece.

Even though her team was heavily favored in Wednesday’s game, Jensen wasn’t sure what to expect with Iowa coming off an emotional win over Virginia Tech in the ally Tipoff this past Sunday in Charlotte, N.C.

“These are always just a little different to prepare for, especially when you’re coming off a very high intense game like Virginia Tech,” Jensen said. “The way they set up that tournament, it really gives like an NCAA vibe and the opponent you know you don’t have to work at all to get your team ready for one like that.

“So, this one, we’re just kind of wondering; how are they going to come out, especially when you have six new faces? So, I was really happy they came out with that intensity, and I thought they had really nice focus for that first quarter.”

After falling behind 8-5 early in the first quarter, Iowa scored 17 consecutive points and led 28-10 heading to the second quarter.

Jensen used eight players in the first quarter and all but one scored at least one point, led by Stuelke and Olsen with eight and six points, respectively.

The second quarter was more of the same as Iowa outscored the Rockets 21-11 to take a 49-21 halftime lead.

In addition to outrebounding the Rockets 39-31, Iowa also made 28-of-32 free throw attempts.

Stuelke, who is from Cedar Rapids, made all nine of her free throws.

She has worked hard since becoming a Hawkeye to improve her free throw shooting.

“We were attacking, they were fouling, and we got to the line,” Stuelke said.

Unlike the previous two seasons when Iowa was ranked among the top teams in the nation, the current team isn’t ranked.

McCabe was asked after Wednesday game if she thinks people are sleeping on this year’s team.

“Yeah, I think a little bit,” McCabe said. “For sure when the rankings came out we talked about it and Lucy (Olsen) texted me right away and we were like, yeah, that’s not going to cut it.

“So, I think it gave us a little fuel to our fire, and we work a lot harder. We’re going to let them sleep on us, too. The rankings only matter at the end of year anyway.”

Toledo finished 28-6 last season and 17-1 in conference play, but the team has since gone through some personnel changes, including hiring a new head coach.

The Rockets just didn’t have an answer for Iowa on the perimeter or near the basket.

Iowa outscored Toledo 52-20 in the paint, 37-18 in bench points and 16-5 in fastbreak points.

But now the schedule will get much tougher with Drake the next opponent on Sunday at the Knapp Center in Des Moines.

Jensen was a star player for the Bulldogs under Lisa Bluder, while Taylor McCabe has a sister who plays for Drake.

“Our schedule is going to ramp up,” Jensen said. “I don’t know how really good we are. I like what I’m seeing, but boy, Drake, they’re great.

“So, we’re going to get tested every which way for a really young team. But I sure like the effort that they’re showing.”