Iowa women’s basketball has officially begun this new era of Hawkeye hoops.
After spending 24 seasons coaching alongside Lisa Bluder at Iowa, Jan Jensen takes over for her first season as the Hawkeyes’ head coach.
Jensen inherits a roster that features headliners in senior guards Lucy Olsen and Sydney Affolter along with junior forward Hannah Stuelke.
Affolter and Stuelke have been key cogs over the past two seasons as Iowa marched its way to consecutive Final Fours and national championship games. Meanwhile, Olsen comes over as a transfer from Villanova after she ranked third nationally in scoring last season with 23.3 points per game.
In addition to that trio, Iowa also returns senior center Addison O’Grady, senior guard Kylie Feuerbach and junior guard Taylor McCabe to its rotation.
The Hawkeyes also signed one of the country’s top recruiting classes last year. Iowa inked four ESPN top-100 players in guards Aaliyah Guyton, Teagan Mallegni and Taylor Stremlow and in center Ava Heiden.
Though superstar Caitlin Clark and longtime starters Kate Martin and Gabbie Marshall have all moved on, Jensen still possesses what’s regarded as one of the Big Ten’s better rosters in her first season at the helm.
In part of its preview for the 2024-25 women’s college basketball season, ESPN took a look at 12 women’s college basketball coaches to watch.
Naturally, Jensen’s name was on that list. Jensen joined Kentucky‘s Kenny Brooks, Tennessee‘s Kim Caldwell, Miami’s Tricia Cullop, Virginia Tech’s Megan Duffy, Stanford’s Kate Paye and Clemson‘s Shawn Poppie within ESPN’s “will they be hits?” category.
Jensen was with Bluder every step of the way for nearly a quarter-century at Iowa and played a big role in every part of the program. Jensen is especially well-regarded for developing post players. With Caitlin Clark, Kate Martin and Gabbie Marshall having moved on, the Hawkeyes will lean on the experience of players such as Hannah Stuelke and Sydney Affolter. The way Iowa plays shouldn’t change that much. – Michael Voepel, ESPN.
In its 91-73 season-opening win over Northern Illinois, Iowa took 71 shots and knocked down 52.1% of them. The Hawkeyes assisted on 22 of their 37 made field goals.
Iowa connected on just 9-of-29 3-point tries.
All five Hawkeye starters finished in double-figures. Iowa was led by Olsen’s 19 points on 9-of-17 shooting. The 5-foot-10 guard also added seven assists and four rebounds.
Stuelke began her season with 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting, six rebounds, two assists and two steals.
One of the highlights for Iowa was the combination of Feuerbach and McCabe. That pairing combined to knock down 7-of-16 from beyond the arc as they scored 25 in tandem.
O’Grady added 12 points and a pair of blocks. Mallegni was Iowa’s other double-figure scorer off the bench. The 6-foot-1 frosh added 14 points.
Iowa (1-0) returns to action on Sunday against Virginia Tech at 4:30 p.m. CT on ESPN2 in the Ally Tipoff from Charlotte, N.C.
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