Iowa women head to Pacific Northwest looking to snap rare four-game losing streak
Iowa plays at Oregon Sunday and Washington Wednesday
By Hawk Fanatic
IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Iowa women’s basketball team will head to the Pacific Northwest carrying the weight of its first four-game losing streak since 2016, and with a group of veteran players that are struggling in new roles.
Iowa will face Oregon on Sunday in Eugene, Oregon before traveling to Seattle to play Washington on Wednesday.
The Ducks have won four consecutive games on their home floor and their bench is averaging 29.2 points per games, which leads the Big Ten and is ranked 14th nationally.
Iowa is coming off an 87-84 overtime loss to Nebraska this past Thursday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes blew an 11-point lead, missed 13 free throws and shot just 29.6 percent from 3-point range, making 8-of-27 attempts.

“You know, turn the page. Obviously, that’s one we definitely would have liked to get, especially at home,” said Iowa senior guard Syd Affolter. “But I think we battled all the way until end. That was a very back-and-forth game, and all of our losses have been very winnable games and that’s the frustrating part.
“But we’re going out to Oregon and Washington, and we’re going to battle over there and give it our best shot. And we’re going to come to practice tomorrow and get better.”
Graduate guard Lucy Olsen missed five straight free throws down the stretch against Nebraska, but then she wasted no time in addressing the problem as Olsen returned to the court to shoot free throws shortly after Thursday’s loss.
“I think it came down, no secret, to those free throws,” first-year Iowa head coach Jan Jensen said of her team’s missed free throws against Nebraska. “We just needed one of those to go, but I do think I saw a lot of progress, though. I thought the flow was better. I thought we were able to play a little faster.”
Jensen said her veteran players are pressing, partly because they want to play so well.

But they’re also faced with the daunting task of playing without former star guard Caitlin Clark and without several other key players from last season’s team that finished as the NCAA runner-up.
Iowa has finished as the NCAA runner-up in each of the past two seasons.
Lisa Bluder also retired as the Iowa head coach this past May and was replaced by Jensen, who had coached alongside Bluder for over three decades.
So, being without Bluder and without Clark and her veteran supporting cast from last season has been a difficult adjustment, maybe even more than what was expected.
Some of the veteran players have had to play different roles this season due to all the roster changes, and it’s been a struggle for them.
The Hawkeyes won 12 of their first 14 games under Jensen, including a win over Iowa State, but now Iowa is in danger of falling four games below .500 in conference play.
Iowa has four freshmen in its rotation, including point guard Aaliyah Guyton, whose minutes have increased in recent games.
Sunday’s game will also be a homecoming for Iowa freshman center Ava Heiden, who is from Oregon.
Heiden has had her moments this season, but it’s been difficult for Jensen to divide minutes between Heiden and and fellow post players Addi O’Grady and Hannah Stuelke, who also plays power forward.
“I do believe this team has a lot left in them, and I love our freshmen ” Jensen said. “Now my trick, I like how the flow was, but now I have three centers. So now the minutes when Hannah is playing as well, that’s what I’ve got to figure out because I think Ava Heiden is going to be really, really good.
“So, that’s the next challenge.”
The Iowa women will try to have better results than the Iowa men’s basketball team had on its two-game road trip to the West Coast.
The Iowa men lost to USC 99-89 this past Tuesday and to UCLA 94-70 on Friday, with both games played in Los Angeles.
Iowa (12-6, 2-5) vs. Oregon (13-5, 4-3)
When: Sunday, 4 p.m.
Where: Eugene, Oregon
TV: BTN+
Radio: Hawkeye Radio Network
All-time series: Iowa leads the all-time series, 1-0. The Hawkeyes beat Oregon, 89-82 in overtime in the First Round of the NCAA
Tournament in 2001.