The Iowa women’s basketball team showcased an efficient and versatile offense in its exhibition game against Missouri Western on Wednesday, ending the night with a massive 110-55 win.
Coming off of a monumental 2023-24 campaign that ended at the NCAA National Championship game, there was an incredibly high bar for the Hawkeyes, who took on new leadership under head coach Jan Jensen and saw Caitlin Clark into the WNBA in time for the new season. The exhibition game, however, destroyed any doubts there may have been about the new team’s offensive capabilities.
Iowa put up 33 points in the first quarter alone and kept momentum rolling for the rest of the game, with five players scoring in double digits and all 11 eligible players putting up four or more points.
“There’s a lot of ballers on the team,” fourth-year Lucy Olsen said. “When you put a bunch of them together, you really want to be here. When you put us all together to play in a game, we want to win. We want to compete.”
Olsen had big shoes to fill to start the season, specifically stepping up to be Iowa’s starting point guard after four-year guard Caitlin Clark began a professional career with the Indiana Fever.
Olsen, a Villanova transfer who was third in the NCAA in average points per game last season, had a stellar night, racking up 14 points during over 27 minutes of playing time.
“I think we just moved the ball well on offense,” Olsen said. “We really played off the team. Our defense had some ups and downs, but we’re going to work on that. I think we finally got to play a game, we’re all super excited, and we just played off each other really well.”
As the game — and with it, the season — began, many fans looked to Olsen and third-year returner Hannah Stuelke as key cogs in Iowa’s offense, but each player had a moment to shine during the game.
Stuelke was one of two Hawkeyes tied for the most points with 18; the other was first-year Teagan Mallegni, a guard from Wisconsin who also had three assists.
“I really have to give it to my team,” Mallegni, who was ESPN’s No. 64 overall prospect, said. “They trust me. They can get me the ball. Playing with them has been super great.”
Mallegni also tied for leading the team in steals with two alongside fourth-year Kylie Feuerbach.
“We feed off our defense, and we’ve really been emphasizing that in practice,” Mallegni said. “I think we did a great job sticking to it and getting those stops and forcing those turnovers. That led really well into our offense.”
Jan Jensen, the team’s new head coach following the retirement of Lisa Bluder, expressed pride in the win and gratitude for all of the people that have brought the team to this point.
“I feel really grateful,” Jensen said. “I’m grateful for the past, to have all the experiences that I’ve had that prepared me for this moment. I’ve learned from, in my opinion, not just the best coach but one of the best people. And I’m grateful to have a team that did what they should have done tonight.”