By Pat Harty

One of the many responsibilities of a head coach is adjusting to your personnel and Jan Jensen has certainly had to do that in her debut season as the Iowa women’s basketball coach.

Iowa was used to overwhelming opponents with its high-powered offense which in each of the past four seasons was led by former All-America point guard Caitlin Clark.

But with Clark having moved on to the WNBA, and with most of her supporting cast also having moved on, Jensen knew that defense had to be more of an emphasis moving forward, and that could pay dividends when Iowa faces Murray State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday in Norman, Oklahoma.

Murray State (25-7) enters the NCAA Tournament averaging a whopping 87.8 points per game, making it the highest scoring team in the nation.

Iowa, on the other hand, has won 10 of its last 13 games, and in all but one of those wins, the opponent scored fewer than 70 points,  including 43 by Rutgers.

The Hawkeyes can play fast when the opportunity is there, but defense has been the one constant this season.

“I think both of us like to go fast. We’re probably going to try to minimize each other,” Jensen said Friday. “They go a little faster than us. And back in the day, two or three years ago, maybe, we went as fast.

“But I think defense will be key. I think shot selection will be key. If you’re not hitting, I think that’s true for both teams. Shot selection is not a big thing if you’re scoring. If you’re hot and you’ve got one pass, two pass and you’re shooting it and hitting it or you’re not reversing the ball but if you’re making shots, it’s all good.”

Murray State set a program record with 25 wins this season and is also riding a 10-game winning streak that is one from the program record of 11 set in 2009.

Murray State also won the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament against Belmont, 83-62 last Sunday.

“I think they’re here for a reason,” Iowa senior guard Lucy Olsen said of the Racers. “Like no random team just makes March Madness. So that’s important to note. They have a 3,000-point scorer on their team. Not a lot of people do that in their career. And, yeah, they play so fast, like Syd mentioned. They just shoot the ball well. And yeah, they’re going to be tough.”

Murray State has seven players that have made at lest 26 3-point baskets, led by 5-foot-6 sophomore guard and Waterlooo native Halli Poock with 71.

Poock is also one of four Murray State players that average in double figures with a 17.1 per-game average.

Graduate forward Katelyn Young leads Murray State in scoring with a 22.2 per-game average and is shooting 55.6 percent from the field and 82.3 percent from the free throw line.

The 6-foot-1 Young, whose jersey was recently retired, became the first Murray State player to score 3.000 points in a career earlier this season.

“They’re a very well-rounded team,” Affolter said. “But we know their point guard and shooting guard are really great. And obviously their post has scored 3,000 points, like Lucy said. I think all around, all through their roster, they have great players and they like to shoot the ball. So just containing them on the 3-point line is going to be very important.”

The circumstances have changed significantly for Iowa on and off the court.

Jensen has replaced Lisa Bluder as head coach, Caitlin Clark is no longer running the show on the court and Iowa is not hosting the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2021 when Clark was a freshman.

Affolter was asked Friday about Iowa’s identity in the wake of all these changes.

“I think Iowa basketball is always going to be Iowa basketball,” Affolter said. “Obviously Caitlin and Coach Bluder were a huge part of that. They’ve left such an amazing legacy on this program.

“But our culture stands what it is before Caitlin was here and after. And we play for each other and we play with that joy that everyone talks about and enjoys seeing. I think we just love playing with each other and playing for this school. And we’re blessed to be here and excited to play.”

Jensen has been a big part of the Iowa culture as Bluder’s long-time assistant coach and close friend.

They joined forces at Drake where Jensen played her senior season under Bluder and they were together pretty much until the day Bluder retired last May.

They also led Iowa to unprecedented success in each of the past two seasons as the Hawkeyes finished as the NCAA runner-up in both seasons.

Jensen was asked at Friday’s press conference what being in this position means to her.

Iowa lost five straight games in January, causing some to question the decision to promote Jensen to head coach.

But the team stayed the course, became locked in on defense and also has benefitted from Olsen being as good as advertised.

“I don’t even know why I’m choked up,” Jensen said. I think that tells you all you need to know, maybe.

“I think what’s cool about it is there’s a lot of different ways you can go through this thing in life. You can set your goals and you tell the world what your goals are and you’re going for it. And I went through a lot of different things in my career because — I started at Drake. I love Drake.

“Lisa Bluder coached me. Became one of my best friends. We left Drake to go to Iowa. Wanted a challenge. And then I had some different coaching jobs. Some of my coaching friends or frenemies, they always critique that I stayed: Why you staying? You should go.”

The winner of the Iowa-Murray State game on Monday will face the winner of the other first-round matchup in Norman between Florida Gulf Coast and host Oklahoma.

Oklahoma is coached by Jennie (Lillis) Barancyzk, who played for Bluder at Iowa and is a graduate of West Des Moines Dowling.

Murray State (25-7) vs. (Iowa 22-10)

When: Saturday, 11 a.m.

Where: Norman, Oklahoma

TV: ESPN

Radio: Hawkeye Radio Network

Series history: This is the first meeting between Iowa and Murray State.