Video: Lucy Olsen leads Iowa over #4 USC 76-69, Caitlin Clark’s jersey enters rafters
By Dallas Jones
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Coming into today, many were focused on the celebration of one of basketballs greatest. While the Iowa Hawkeyes were among those ready to celebrate Caitlin Clark, they also had a game to play as the #4 ranked USC Trojans and Juju Watkins came to town at a daunting 19-1.
Watkins and USC were set on ruining the celebration, but Lucy Olsen reminded everyone why she was right there behind Juju Watkins and Caitlin Clark in the scoring leaderboard last season. Olsen’s season high 28 points led the Hawkeyes to a 79-69 victory in a career defining game for both her and Jan Jensen.
The Hawkeyes now have all the confidence in the world and got to celebrate one of the best to every play the game at the same time. Here is how the game played out.
First Quarter: The roar of the crowd reached an even higher at the start of this one as Taylor McCabe knocked down a triple to open the game for the Hawkeyes. Iowa would use that momentum to blitz the Trojans early and start the game on an 11-1 run in the first four minutes.
USC was held without a field goal for the first four minutes of the game and turned the ball over four times. Kylie Feuerbach was the first to matchup with Juju Watkins and held her scoreless through the first five minutes of the game before she picked up her second foul.
They kept the foot on the gas all quarter as they held USC to just 1-14 for the entire quarter with seven turnovers.
Second Quarter: Struggles continued for USC in the second quarter as they started 0-5 with four turnovers in the first 4:16 of the period. The Hawkeye offense had a bit of their own struggles as they shot just 9-27 (33%) at the 4:46 mark in the second quarter.
Taylor McCabe led the Hawkeye with nine early points, all coming from beyond the arc. USC would bounce back in the second quarter as the Trojans held Iowa without a field goal for over four minutes, while also forcing six turnovers during that time. USC’s 17-1 run cut the lead from 19, back down to just three.
Iowa could not match the pressure USC brought down the stretch in the first half and after a Juju Watkins steal and score, they Hawkeyes saw their lead completely vanish going into the half.
Third Quarter: A defensive battle was not on my bingo sheet, but that is exactly what we got. Halfway through the third, neither team was shooting 50% or better from the field and Iowa held Juju Watkins to just 1-4 to start the second half.
Lucy Olsen took a step in the right direction in the half as she put up six quick points. The Hawkeyes momentum took a big blow when Hannah Stuelke was called for her fourth foul in the third quarter, soon after USC extended their lead to six points, the largest at the time.
The Hawkeyes fought back in the face of adversity though as Addi O’Grady entered the game and made two big baskets. Iowa closed the quarter on a 6-0 run and took a one point lead into the final quarter.
Fourth Quarter: Lucy Olsen continued to show why the Hawkeyes added her to the team this offseason, following up her eight point third quarter with six points in the first three minuets of the final period. Addi O’Grady also continued to make a huge impact as she made two baskets early in the quarter to help Iowa hold the lead 61-57 with 6:31 to play.
Olsen and O’Grady continued to lead the Hawkeyes to the promise land down the stretch. They combined for 35 points in the second half, which accounted for 72.9% of Iowa’s total points.
A huge win for the Hawkeyes not puts them at 15-7 on the season and 5-6 in conference play. Check out comments from Caitlin Clark pregame, footage from the jersey retirement and postgame comments from both teams here: