Iowa women's basketball: Hawkeyes lean on Lucy Olsen to grind out win vs. Rutgers

Iowa women’s basketball: Hawkeyes lean on Lucy Olsen to grind out win vs. Rutgers

Posted by author February 14, 2025 Basketball

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IOWA CITY — Not every outing has to be a masterpiece, and Iowa women’s basketball certainly didn’t draw one up Thursday night. Ultimately, though, a methodical wear-down counts the same as a riveting effort.

Iowa leaned on its defensive intensity — and plenty of Lucy Olsen — to grind out a 55-43 victory over Rutgers inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena, extending the program’s winning streak to six. Despite some lethargic stretches with little offensive flow, the Hawkeyes held off any serious upset vibes from the sputtering Scarlet Knights.

Olsen followed up emphatic performances against USC and Nebraska with 27 points on 11-for-19 shooting Thursday night, single-handedly keeping Iowa from sinking into any extended scoring droughts. That won’t work every time, but there was enough in the tank for it to be a winning formula on this night. A hard-earned double-double from Sydney Affolter (10 points, 14 rebounds) featured six offensive rebounds to extend what scoring chances Iowa did have.

With offensive stability hard to find, the Hawkeyes leaned largely on what’s gotten them out of the gutter. Iowa punctuated this performance by holding Rutgers without a fourth-quarter point until just 48 seconds remained. Down freshman leading scorer Kiyomi McMiller for a second consecutive game, Rutgers mustered little response when Iowa cranked up the intensity. The Scarlet Knights stumbled through a 10-minute second-half scoring drought that included just six fourth-quarter points.

Reaching intermission with a cushion boiled down to Olsen setting another early tone. She followed up Monday’s 12-point first quarter with eight in Thursday’s opening 10, followed by an 11-point second quarter with three treys.

Olsen’s 19-point first half accounted for all but two of Iowa’s field goals and each one of the Hawkeyes’ downtown connections to that point. Without a suffocating defensive effort that featured a five-minute Rutgers scoring drought, Iowa could’ve been in much more trouble than its 28-22 intermission lead indicated.

Not the prettiest showing, but it’ll do. On to another spotlight week with upcoming games against No. 8 Ohio State and No. 1 UCLA.

Dargan Southard is a sports trending reporter and covers Iowa athletics for the Des Moines Register and HawkCentral.com. Email him at msouthard@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Dargan_Southard.