Iowa delivered its finest performance of the 2024-25 women’s college basketball season on Sunday, downing No. 4 USC, 76-69, on the day of Caitlin Clark’s jersey retirement.
The Hawkeyes began their upset of USC with smothering defense, limiting the Trojans to 1-of-14 shooting in the first quarter. Iowa built a 23-4 lead early in the second quarter before USC came roaring back to grab a 29-28 halftime lead.
Despite trailing by six points at 47-41 with 3:17 left in the third quarter, Iowa’s stars delivered in the second half en route to the victory. Senior guard Lucy Olsen was spectacular, dropping 28 points on the afternoon, including 23 after halftime.
Senior center Addison O’Grady came alive after halftime as well, scoring 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting in the game’s final 20 minutes.
With the win, Iowa improves to 15-7 (5-6 Big Ten) and has now won three straight. The victory also vastly improves Iowa’s at-large NCAA Tournament bid standing.
With a number of big-time recruiting visitors on hand to take in the Iowa win from inside a rocking Carver-Hawkeye Arena, there’s hope that this victory could mean even more down the line for Iowa.
The Carver atmosphere, its recruiting impact and the inspired play of the Hawkeyes were what social media was buzzing about on Sunday afternoon.
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