In their final home game of the season, the Iowa women’s basketball team notched an 81-66 win to send their five seniors off victorious on Senior Day. Hannah Stuelke and Lucy Olsen combined for 43 points, as Iowa finishes the regular season 20-9 overall record and 10-8 in Big Ten play.
Stuelke’s 21 points and 15 rebounds led the way for the Hawkeyes. Olsen led all scorers with 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting, while Sydney Affolter notched 10 points and a team-high four assists.
Wisconsin’s Serah Williams and Carter McCray combined for 35 points and 20 rebounds — each with a double-double — in the loss.
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“I think we’re hitting [our stride] at the right spot,” Olsen said postgame. “Jan’s always said, ‘Be your best in March.’ I think we’re doing just that.”
First Half
After Iowa jumped out to a 10-2 lead with 6:24 left in the first quarter, Wisconsin went on a 19-10 run to finish the period with a one-point lead. Badgers center Carter McCray logged nine points on 4-of-5 shooting during that run.
The first basket of the second quarter from either side was a Stuelke and-one basket inside off the Wisconsin turnover at the 6:51 mark. She scored the first seven points in the period for the Hawkeyes on her way to game-high 13 first-half points.
“I think we all really wanted to get a win for those seniors [in] their last game,” Stuelke said. “So I think that boosted my energy a bit.”
The Badgers’ first basket of the second period was a Lily Krahn triple with 4:37 left in the period, though the Hawkeyes held just a three-point lead after the matter. Iowa got out to the 36-31 lead before consecutive Wisconsin baskets, including a Tess Myers buzzer-beating three, knotted the score at 36 apiece heading into the break.
Iowa shot 14-of-29 in the first half on 10 assists while allowing Wisconsin to hit 15-of-28 shots. Stuelke was the only player on either team to hit double figures. Olsen trailed her with nine points all from the first quarter on 4-of-10 shooting — all her points coming in the opening period, while no other Hawkeye hit more than one field goal.
“It was a special day today, so our minds might be all over the place,” Olsen said. “But at halftime, she gave it to us a little bit and made sure we locked in.“We’ve been in a lot of situations, a lot of close games, which has helped us grow and not fall back on the pressure. We stepped to it.”
The five Hawkeye seniors — Olsen, Affolter, Feuerbach, AJ Ediger, and Addy O’Grady, were honored postgame beside their families with tribute videos and loud ovations from the crowd
Second Half
Iowa quickly raced out to a nine-point lead with three made triples just two minutes into the third quarter — Olsen, Kylie Feuerbach, and Sydney Affolter all hitting one each. Wisconsin would cut the lead down to as low as five before Stuelke’s fourth steal and sixth basket gave the Hawkeyes its first double-digit lead with just over a minute left in the period.
Eight different Iowa players scored on the way to 26 third quarter points. The Hawkeyes held onto that double-digit lead for the remainder of the game behind Olsen’s 13 second-half points. Stuelke and Affolter trailed her with 8 points apiece, while Stuelke’s 11 rebounds also helped to carry the load.
Stuelke grabbed four offensive rebounds in a two-minute span. Those led to two baskets — one by herself and one by Olsen — capping off one of the best performances of her career as Iowa piled onto a late-game runaway stretch.
“She’s really sacrificed a lot [switching] from the four to the five,” Jensen said. “I hope that’s going to bode well for the Big Ten Tournament that she’s going with that type of confidence.”
Up Next
The Hawkeyes will head to Indianapolis, Indiana, to play in the Big Ten Tournament. Iowa had to wait roughly an hour to find out their first round opponent, and it will in fact be the same Wisconsin team they defeated this afternoon. The Hawkeyes will be the No. 11 seed, while the Badgers are a No. 14.
The game will take place on Wednesday, March 5 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis. Tip off and TV destinations will be finalized later tonight. After honoring her seniors during the postgame ceremony, Jensen left the remaining fans with a simple message:
“Let’s have some fun in March, what do you say?”