Despite struggles, Jan Jensen and Iowa women’s basketball remain confident

The Iowa women’s basketball team has been spoiled with great success over the past three seasons, earning three Big Ten tournament titles and qualifying for consecutive NCAA national championship games in 2022 and 2023. 

But the first season of the post-Caitlin Clark and Lisa Bluder era has presented some struggles. The Hawkeyes went through a dismal 4-5 stretch after beginning the year with an 8-0 start. Questions are warranted, and the team is searching for answers.

“I don’t think we’ve totally figured it out yet,” fourth-year guard Lucy Olsen said. “We know that this adversity is just going to get stronger in the future. We’ve done a lot of talking and some team bonding that I hope will fix it all.” 

Iowa’s five-game losing skid came at the hands of five conference foes in then-No. 8 Maryland, Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska,  and Oregon and it has been held to less than 70 points in four out of the five losses.

Two of those games, Jan. 5 against Maryland and Jan. 12 against Indiana, saw the Hawkeyes fall to a deficit and play catch-up the rest of the way. It’s been a common theme all season, though the difference is they were able to take the victory against those non-conference opponents. 

“I would say just for us, not really dwelling on the past,” first-year guard Aaliyah Guyton said. “I think just focusing on being as consistent as we can starting off with the first few minutes in the game is very important. And just sticking together, because being separate won’t make it any better.” 

The road game against Illinois on Jan. 9, however, was the opposite of the other two. The Hawkeyes held a lead early for a brief period before the Illini fought back, and the two teams tussled with it before Illinois pulled away toward the middle of the fourth quarter. 

Iowa head coach Jan Jensen admitted to her frustrations after the Illinois loss but thought the team responded well against Indiana despite falling short. 

“After the Illinois game, I was very hot and disappointed with their play,” Jensen said at media availability on Jan. 15. “I just saw a little flatness for the first time. At Indiana, they really did battle. We closed gaps a couple of times. We just didn’t turn a corner. But I saw a different type of feel.”

Though it’s technically her first year as head coach of this squad, having spent more than two decades alongside Bluder and this program as the associate head coach made her more than prepared for the role. 

Jensen said she understands there’s still a big learning curve to what looks like a completely different team. Lucy Olsen spent her past three years across the country at Villanova, Addison O’Grady and Taylor McCabe were thrust into more prominent roles, and the three freshmen in Taylor Stremlow, Teagan Mallegni, and Ava Heiden are seeing more minutes than most anticipated. 

And with Clark, Kate Martin, and Gabbie Marshall out of the program, players like Sydney Affolter, Kylie Feuerbach, and Hannah Stuelke are now the ones leading the l
ocker room. 

“You think about the experience you have on the floor,” Jensen said. “Kylie has been here for a while, but I think she’s stepping up into a new leadership role. You think about those like Sydney and Hannah that’ve had a little bit of that experience playing in the Big Ten. I think that’s kind of who we’re leaning on in terms of those leadership roles right now.

“You’re probably looking at it like we’re a lot farther away than we’re close, and I kind of look at it like we’re a lot closer than we’re farther away,” she added. 

Iowa is currently sitting outside the AP top-25 rankings after spending the last three seasons near the top of the list. But those within the program have zero doubts about their ability to overcome the adversity. 

“We got to find a way to bounce back and snap that,” third-year guard Taylor McCabe said. “I just think this team is so different, and I don’t think that we ever stopped fighting. That Iowa culture is definitely still there.”