By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Jan Jensen was too hard on herself after Sunday’s 74-66 loss to No. 8 Maryland at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The agony of defeat was evident in her voice as Jensen talked about what caused Iowa to play so poorly in the first half, trailing by as many as 25 points.

It was nice that she didn’t throw any of her players under the bus, but she didn’t have to be so tough on herself.

Jensen obviously wants to win every game she coaches, and especially a conference game against a nationally ranked and undefeated opponent, as was the case with Maryland.

But this game was even more special because Jensen’s close friend, mentor and former boss was being honored at halftime.

Iowa fans, along with multiple former Iowa players and support staff, paid their respects to former Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder, who retired this past May after having led Iowa to back-to-back NCAA runner-up finishes.

The tribute to Bluder was held during halftime, and with Iowa trailing, 48-27.

The Hawkeyes rallied in the second half, trimming the deficit to five points twice in the fourth quarter.

But it just wasn’t meant to be, and to have fallen short was hard for Jensen to handle because she wanted so much to win for the person that helped to change the course of her life, and countless other lives.

“I think it’s probably my fault. I think I probably got really tight,” Jensen said when asked why her team started so poorly. “I thought they let it go really physical. Not why we lost, but I think I got incensed, I couldn’t believe a possession call.

“And I think I’m learning and growing, so I could have made them a little bit tight. So, I’m going to take that. We’ve got a lot of youth playing in a pretty big game.”

Jensen was referring to a possession call early in the first quarter that gave Maryland the ball, much to her dismay. She was visibly upset and let the officials know how she felt.

But Jensen wasn’t given a technical foul and she quickly calmed down and started coaching again.

Her team showed a lot of grit and determination by storming back in the second half, but her team also committed 21 turnovers and shot just 37.1 percent from the field.

You win as a team and lose as a team.

No one player, or one head coach, is solely responsible for losing a game, but Jensen seemed determined to put Sunday’s loss on her shoulders.

You admire her willingness to do so in her new role as Iowa’s head coach because Jensen was mostly protecting her players, which include five freshmen, four of whom play significant roles.

It was as if Jensen took one for the team as she addressed the media after Sunday’s loss, her voice often cracking with emotion.

But the players also deserve blame because they committed the 21 turnovers and missed more than 60 percent of their shots from the field.

Now is certainly not the time to panic, or to make sweeping changes.

Give Maryland, and its head coach, Cedar Rapids native Brenda Frese, credit for rising to the occasion under tough circumstances, and then move on and learn from the loss.

It might help if freshman point guard Aaliyah Guyton were to see more playing time because she seems to have a knack for providing a spark off the bench.

That also would allow for graduate guard Lucy Olsen to play more off the ball, which could give Olsen more scoring opportunities with her mid-range game.

Iowa (12-3, 2-2) plays at Illinois on Thursday, and getting a win probably won’t be easy because Big Ten road wins rarely come easy.

Iowa combined for 74 turnovers in its three losses this season, and while that is far too many, maybe we should have seen it coming since Iowa still is adjusting to playing without the greatest offensive player in the history of women’s college basketball in Caitlin Clark.

In addition to making logo threes and scoring an NCAA record 3,951 points, Caitlin Clark also had the ball in her hands way more than anyone else.

She committed a lot of turnovers as a Hawkeye because she took chances and made passes that her teammates sometimes couldn’t handle.

Clark also had veterans playing alongside her in the backcourt in former Hawkeyes Kate Martin and Gabbie Marshall.

But they have all since moved on, leaving behind a team that still is figuring things out on both ends of the floor, but especially on offense where Clark was dominant as a scorer, passer and ball handler.

It would have been silly to think that this year’s team would come anywhere close to matching what the two previous Iowa teams accomplished with Clark leading the way.

But the current team still has a lot of potential and some proven players such as Olsen, All-Big Ten forward Hannah Stuelke and versatile senior guard Syd Affolter to lead the way.

It also has a first-year head coach who is accountable and who is willing to take responsibility for losing for the sake of her players, perhaps too much responsibility.