By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – While it took a while for Lucy Olsen and her Iowa teammates to start showing their superiority against Washington State on Sunday, once they did, the Cougars didn’t stand a chance as Iowa cruised to a 72-43 victory at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Olsen, a graduate transfer from Villanova, was among three Iowa players that scored in double figures with 17 points. Senior center Addi O’Grady and junior forward Hannah Stuelke finished with 14 and 11 points, respectively.

Olsen, who also led Iowa with eight rebounds and five assists, received a loud ovation from the fans when she was substituted for with Iowa leading 65-34 with 4 minutes, 45 seconds left to play.

Iowa improved to 6-0 under first-year head coach Jan Jensen and showed again with Sunday’s performance that defense could be a strength for this team

“I think we came out a little slow, and then in our huddles we talked about how we had to play defense a little more and that will get our offense going,” Olsen said. “But we also got some energy off the bench that helped us get going, too.”

Washinton State led 19-18 after the first quarter as Iowa only made one of its five shots from 3-point range in the quarter.

O’Grady made her first four shots from the field and led Iowa with eight points in the first quarter.

The Cougars shot 61. 5 percent in the first quarter, making 8-of-13 field-goal attempts, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range.

Iowa then started the second quarter with an 8-0 scoring run, causing Washington State to call a timeout with 6:18 left in the quarter, and with the fans on their feet cheering Iowa’s 26-19 lead.

The Hawkeyes made it 10 straight points on a layup by freshman center Ava Heiden, thanks to a nifty pass from freshman guard Taylor Stremlow.

Freshman guard Taylor Stremlow talks about providing a boost off the bench and becoming a fan favorite. pic.twitter.com/xiHuKxldmA

— Pat Harty (@PatHarty) November 24, 2024

Iowa would go on to outscore the Cougars 20-4 in the second quarter and led 38-23 at halftime.

“I feel like we let them get going a little bit,” Jensen said of the first quarter. “We kind of blew some transition coverage. We didn’t know who we had, and we let up back-to-back transition buckets.”

Jensen reminded her players after the first quarter that Washington State wouldn’t be intimidated by the atmosphere inside in Carver-Hawkeye Arena, and that they had to do a better job of defending the ball screens.

“So, we just had a little chat about just sticking to our fundamentals and wanting to dictate the action,” Jensen said. “And I think they responded pretty well to that.”

Senior guard Syd Affolter also showed on Sunday that she is close to regaining her form after having had her knee scoped in September. The Chicago native played 24:37 minutes, scored eight points, grabbed eight rebounds and had two assists and two steals.

Iowa will now hit the road for a tournament in Cancun where it’ll face Rhode Island on Thursday.

“The flight will be much more enjoyable tomorrow,” Jensen said. “I did mention that to them. I said, regardless of what role I have, it’s very much more fun to fly to a tropical place when you get a win.”

Olsen and Stuelke led a balanced scoring attack for Iowa in the first half with nine points apiece.

Washington State committed 12 turnovers and shot just 34.5 percent in the first half, its problems on offense caused largely by Iowa’s defensive effort.

The second half would be a repeat of the second quarter as Washington State only scored five points in the third quarter, which ended with Iowa leading, 55-28.

Jensen emptied her bench in the fourth quarter, and that included freshman point guard Aaliyah Guyton seeing her first action as a Hawkeye late in final minutes.

Guyton has spent the past year recovering from a knee injury that she suffered early in her senior season in high school.

“I really wasn’t anticipating getting her in today because I really didn’t know how this game was going to play out,” Jensen said. “And I knew she was cleared full just this last week. And anybody who’s had an injury of any kind, that is a long road home.”

Guyton played slightly more than 2 minutes and made both of her free throw attempts.

“I think that was one the cooler moments in my young head coaching career is just getting to see someone that any time you get an injury, you’re at such a low point,” Jensen said. “But getting to be part of that high point, I hope Lisa Bluder shared in that, too, because Aaliyah has always been special.”

Lisa Bluder was the Iowa head coach when Guyton signed with Iowa last November.

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

Iowa then announced on the same day that Jensen had been promoted to head coach.

Iowa only made 2-of-17 shots from 3-point range in Sunday’s win, and just 12-of-21 free throw attempts, but it didn’t matter since the Cougars struggled just to score any points.

Jensen also doesn’t seem too concerned about her team’s 3-point shooting.  She has seen her players make enough threes in practice to know that they can also make them in games.

“I think if someone does sag it might help us,” Jensen said. “So go ahead. I believe in our kids.”