By Hawk Fanatic

The Iowa women’s basketball team’s quest for an unprecedented fourth straight Big Ten Tournament championship started in rousing fashion as the Hawkeyes crushed Wisconsin 81-54 in the first round on Wednesday in Indianapolis.

Iowa closed the first quarter on a 19-0 scoring run and led 25-9 heading to the second quarter.

Iowa would go on to lead by double figures for the rest of the game, improving to 21-8 under first-year head coach Jan Jensen, and setting the stage for a matchup against Michigan State Thursday in the second round.

The Hawkeyes made 11-of-15 shots from the field in the first quarter, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range, while the Badgers made just 4-of-13 shots from the field in the first quarter and committed five turnovers.

Five different Iowa players made at least one three in the first half, which ended with Iowa holding a decisive 43-23 lead.

Iowa shot 58.1 percent from the field in the first half, making 18-of-31 field-goals attempts, including 7-of-10 from 3-point range.

The Badgers would never threaten again as Iowa led by as many as 27 points in the second half.

Iowa also extended its winning streak over the Badgers to 31 straight games.

Villanova transfer Lucy Olsen, who was voted first-team All-Big Ten on Tuesday, led Iowa in scoring with 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field. She was the only Hawkeye to score in double figures, but Iowa had eight other players that scored at least five points.

Olsen also became just the third active Big Ten player to score 2,000 career points.

“We just came out ready to win,” Olsen said on the Peacock post-game interview. “We don’t want to stop playing. So, I think that just set the tone right away.”

Wednesday’s rout in Indianapolis came just three days after Iowa defeated the Badgers 81-66 on Senior Day this past Sunday in Iowa City.

That game was far more competitive as Wisconsin led 21-20 after the first quarter and the score was even at 36 at halftime.

Iowa is playing in the Big Ten Tournament without NCAA all-time scoring leader Caitlin Clark as its starting point guard for the first time since 2019, and without Lisa Bluder as its head coach for the first time in a quarter century.

Bluder retired shortly after last season, and to nobody’s surprise, Jensen, her long-time assistant, was promoted to head coach as both career moves were announced on the same day last May.

Bluder and Clark, who now plays for the Indiana Fever in the WNBA, both attended Wednesday’s game in Indianapolis.

The regular season was certainly a challenge without Clark, and without most of Clark’s supporting cast that helped Iowa finish as the NCAA runner-up in each of the past two seasons.

The Hawkeyes lost five straight games in January, and despite winning eight of their last 10 Big Ten games, still were seeded just 11th in the Big Ten Tournament.

Olsen and her cohorts have now won nine of their last 11 games and are peaking at the right time.

“We’re deep as you can see,” Olsen said. “We played everyone and everyone cooked.”

Moving On #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/OvVdk0SpoE

— Iowa Women’s Basketball (@IowaWBB) March 6, 2025