When Lucy Olsen transferred to Iowa from Villanova last year, she was brought in to score -- full stop. As one of the top pure scorers in the country, her 23.3 points per game would be a vital addition to the Hawkeyes roster in the post-Caitlin Clark era.
In some form of poetic justice, Olsen not only led the Hawkeyes in scoring for the entirety of the 2024-25 season with 17.9 points per contest, but she led the women with 22 points in her final game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, propelling Iowa to a 81-66 win over Wisconsin on Sunday.
Following the victory, she was afforded the opportunity to reflect on her short time in Iowa City.
"To walk in the arena where it's filled, every game, and then to have them really support you throughout this. It's been a lot, but I can't thank everyone enough for just accepting me and embracing this team," she said. "It's been so much, but everyone's been so great, and my teammates -- I feel like I've been here forever."
One of the key members of the staff that kept Olsen on board when Lisa Bluder announced her retirement in the spring, now-head coach Jan Jensen added that she's been nothing but impressed with Olsen's short tenure with the Hawkeyes.
"I just give Lucy so much credit because, few people would have the courage to really look at a school where you knew the GOAT had just left," Jensen smiled. "It's just hard to be a point guard in the portal when you come in. And then you have all the coaching change, right? So she's – even though I was pretty similar to what we had, but what she handled and she kept leaning into moments -- I can't say enough."
To think her future at Iowa was up in the air for any time at all seems like a foreign concept as the season has approached its end and Olsen has played her final game in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
"It's the connectivity, I think, of authenticity and what you both want out of the deal. And with Lucy and myself, and Lisa, all of us, it was like we were in for this challenge together," Jensen said of Olsen's decision to stick with Iowa. "We knew what that was going to feel like. I think that I'd had enough conversations in that speed dating that happens in the portal that she felt comfortable. I'm really grateful for that because I think no matter what happens in March, I think she's going to leave here thinking basketball is still fun. I don't think that I could be any more grateful that that's how she'll feel."
Through the process and through this season, Jensen's admiration for her leading scorer only grew.
I think she's done a really beautiful job," Jensen added. "I'd like to think she's kind of been hitting her stride a little bit more."
Hitting her stride, indeed. In addition to leading Iowa in scoring against the Badgers on 9-16 shooting from the floor and 2-4 from three, Olsen has averaged just under 26 points per game over Iowa's last six contests. Like her fellow senior, Sydney Affolter, the Collegeville, Pennsylvania native has been playing her best basketball at the right time.
Though her head coach was happy to heap praise on her, Olsen herself preferred to point to the success of the team, continuing to add to so much of what the Iowa program is and the legacy Olsen has continued fulfill in her time donning black and gold.
"I don't really look at the scoring that much," Olsen said. "It's more of the win, so I'm just proud that we got the win today. I mean, going into the tournament on a loss would have been bad, so I'm glad we just got the win today. But yeah, I can't believe I'm a senior and here in Iowa, like, it all doesn't seem real."
