Iowa women's basketball: How the USC upset gives Hawkeyes chance to carry momentum forward

Iowa women’s basketball: How the USC upset gives Hawkeyes chance to carry momentum forward

Posted by author February 3, 2025 Basketball

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IOWA CITY — The excitement bubbled in Jan Jensen’s voice as her answer unfolded, a product of the progress she just witnessed her developing team achieve. Steps forward come in all different forms.

“It’s such a great lesson — a life lesson,” the first-year Iowa women’s basketball coach said after her Hawkeyes stunned No. 4 USC on Caitlin Clark’s jersey retirement day. “Adversity is hard. But if you keep showing up, it’s going to turn. So that’s what I feel really grateful for, and I’m just so happy for them.

“I really love coaching them. As I’ve said before, I couldn’t have a better group to start this particular era with.”

Sunday’s collision between past and present could’ve easily presented a moment too large for these current Hawkeyes to digest. It was an official check-up of sorts — not just with Clark in the building — but several other program pillars in attendance who helped make a scene like Sunday possible. Throw in a network television audience, many of them likely casual viewers tuning in to see what the Hawkeyes still had post-Clark, and it didn’t take long for a massive spotlight to materialize.

Given the seesawing play Iowa had showed up to this point, an out-of-body basketball experience could’ve easily been the only winning route. Maybe someone shoots unconsciously from deep. Perhaps JuJu Watkins stunningly can’t buy a bucket on a glaringly rare off day. Even if the Hawkeyes needed to lean on a performance impossible to replicate, it’s hard to argue a better time for it this year than Sunday.

Instead, almost none of that happened. And that’s exactly why Jensen beamed with admiration at what her growing group had just accomplished. It didn’t require some absurd showing to rattle a giant like Watkins and the Trojans. All it took was marginal improvement across the board and a hardened mental fortitude that made this task nowhere near as daunting as the outside world believed.

Start there with how Iowa best spins this momentum forward while continuing through a treacherous February slate.

“Today really showed us how good we can be — that we can win and stay in any game with any team — and that we’re really good,” said senior Addi O’Grady, who had 13 points off the bench and co-starred late with Lucy Olsen to bring this victory home. “Now we can fully believe it because we have a win against a really, really good team.”

Hear from Lucy Olsen, Addi O’Grady after Iowa women’s basketball upsets USC

While the Hawkeyes certainly would’ve preferred a drama-free affair on such a special day, expecting one against that type of foe would’ve been wasted effort. More significant was how Iowa handled the inevitable in-game adversity coming its way.

And there was plenty of it. An early cushion as large as 19 points completely vanished before intermission, with Watkins handing USC its first lead of the day on a layup right before the halftime horn. Several of Iowa’s 17 turnovers came in appalling fashion while unable to handle the Trojans’ relentless press. A 5-for-18 showing from deep hardly screamed upset special. A second half with little separation on either side could’ve easily trended toward another late collapse.

Jensen hammered home at halftime that Iowa should recognize this spot, a similar place to where the Hawkeyes were during every game on its five-game losing streak last month. “Not today,” Jensen said — and her team clearly ran with that confidence.

What did go right for Iowa down the stretch can be traced back to direct improvement from the past. After missing a potential game-winning elbow jumper at Oregon, O’Grady knocked down a pair in the fourth quarter to prevent keep the energy flowing. Olsen’s second half, when 23 of her game-high 28 points arrived, showcased the game-dictating element that hadn’t fully transferred over from her Villanova days. Her 5-for-5 fourth-quarter effort from the free-throw line accentuated the mental improvement this team is making.

“I’ve been struggling just because we’ve been losing, and I feel like I haven’t helped a lot with helping my team get the win,” Olsen said. “I’m glad today the shots were falling. I think in practice, we’ve all been clicking a lot better. I think it just takes time sometimes.

“Five new starters pretty much. Syd (Affolter) and Hannah (Stuelke) have been here, but the rest of us, we needed to learn how to play with each other. (The) Washington (win), we had a glimpse of it. And I think now, we’re rolling.”

Evidence of an intact culture extended beyond pure production. There was Stuelke going crazy on the bench late despite sitting for all of the fourth quarter. There was Kylie Feuerbach, despite taking just one shot, stepping up defensively to make Watkins earn everything she got. O’Grady’s ability to stay locked in for her riveting finish despite moving out of the starting lineup accentuates more of that.

When dissecting how Iowa best carries this momentum forward while continuing through its treacherous February slate, circle back to Jensen’s answer on the importance perseverance. The Hawkeyes delivered Sunday’s monumental moment not on the shoulders of some wild anomaly, but by leaning into and embracing the virtues that got them here.

“What I’m so happy for them about is they’ve been staying the course,” Jensen said. “After (the) Maryland (loss that started the five-game losing streak) all the way up, they keep coming, and keep leaning in. We keep working. And I was so happy they got this moment.”