Jan Jensen has waited 24 years for her shot at an NCAA tournament appearance as a head coach. Two months ago, those hopes were in serious jeopardy.
The Iowa women’s basketball team had lost its fourth-straight game in an overtime bout to Nebraska. It followed it up with a one-point loss to Oregon three days later, extending its losing streak to five, the longest such streak for the program in 12 years.
The Hawkeyes were hanging on by a thread. The criticism was loud. The doubt was real — at least to those outside the locker room.
But behind closed doors, Jensen and Co. never lost faith. And after an improbable late-season turnaround, the ticket is officially punched. On Selection Sunday on March 16, the Iowa women’s basketball team officially earned its bid to play for a national title as a sixth seed.
“For me, as a head coach, I’m just so grateful because I know this is where we’ve worked for 24 years prior,” she explained after the NCAA Selection Show. “This is where I’ve worked to want us to always be, perennially in the tournament.”
This is a new chapter for not only her but the entire program. Caitlin Clark won’t be running onto the court with her black and yellow cape on. There’s no Kate Martin here to be that floor general the team used to lean on. And Gabbie Marshall won’t be drawing charges in the game’s biggest moments.
Instead, the Hawkeyes roster has the mid-range assassin that is Lucy Olsen. The floor general role was passed down to Sydney Affolter, who broke out during last year’s NCAA tournament run. And Kylie Feuerbach is now the one taking crucial charges after spending much of last season spectating from the sideline.
But most importantly, this group has immense confidence, and it was morphed after overcoming the mid-season fallout.
“If we played like we did the second half of the season, we would have a different seed,” Olsen said. “[It] doesn’t matter where you put us. I’m just happy we got into the tournament, and we can make some noise.
“We played better on the road,” she added. “Everyone better watch out. We didn’t want the home seed anyways.”
Affolter also acknowledged the high confidence the squad is rolling into the big dance with. The camaraderie within the locker room sprouts trust with one another, and it’s also a driving force to maxing out the days together as a unit.
“This group of girls doesn’t want to stop playing basketball together,” she said. “We’re excited to have some more practices before we head out.”
Going from a role player to one of the leaders of this team, Affolter will need to play at a higher level than she did last year. The same goes for Hannah Stuelke; however, her role hasn’t changed much as she remained the top big in the rotation and a go-to scorer inside.
Though she isn’t on the receiving end of any more Clark touchdown passes on the fast break, she still runs the floor the same way as if she still were. She’s still aggressive on the glass and relentlessly attacks the opposing defense the same way she was this time last year.
In Stuelke’s mind, everything has remained the same.
“I think it’s been pretty much the same [preparation], just working on us,” she said, put into simplest terms.
Jensen feels the same way. In her introductory press conference as the new head coach of Iowa women’s basketball before this season, she explained how she’s always had her dream job of coaching the Hawkeyes as former head coach Lisa Bluder’s assistant — only now it’s “with a different title.”
And when it comes to making her NCAA tournament head coaching debut, the approach will remain the same as it has the past 24 years, including the sleep schedule.
“I haven’t thought that far ahead exactly on how it might differ from what we’ve done last year, but I think that will be relatively the same,” Jensen said. “I’ve got to iron all that out. But I don’t think the approach will change. It’s just the feelings are different.
“Well, I do know that regardless [of the] role, there’s not a lot of sleep involved,” she said.
But something’s got to give, and anything will for a run in the cut-throat tournament — starting with 11th-seeded Murray State in Norman, Oklahoma, on Saturday.