Hawkeyes stun fourth-ranked USC on CC22 jersey retirement day

Many did not envision the Iowa women’s basketball team pulling off an upset. Even with all the hoopla surrounding the game, with former Hawkeye Caitlin Clark set to have her #22 jersey officially retired postgame, it was hard to imagine a scenario that ended with a court storm. But that’s why they suit up and play all 40 minutes.

On a historic and festive day at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, the Hawkeyes (15-7, 5-6) stepped up and delivered a potential season defining victory, taking down the fourth-ranked USC Trojans (19-2, 9-1) by a final score of 76-69. A signature win for Jan Jensen, who has dealt with plenty of ups and downs in her first year as head coach.

“I was so happy they got this moment because they’ve had it go the other way and it’s a possession here, it’s a possession there…they’ve been staying the course,” said Jensen. “I really challenged them at halftime, and I said, you know what? Not today, not after everything you’ve been through.”

The opening quarter of the game was nothing short of picture perfect for the Hawkeyes. USC came into the game rated as the nation’s top defense, but it was Iowa that showed off their defensive prowess, holding the Trojans to just four points on 1/14 shooting over the first ten minutes. Defense aside, Iowa was able to knock down four triples, including a pair from Taylor McCabe, jumping out an 18-4 lead. JuJu Watkins was just 1/6 in the opening quarter and turned it over two times.

“That was really a part of our game plan, focusing on our defense and making sure that JuJu was going to pass to other people and make other people hurt us,” said Addi O’Grady. “JuJu was going to get her own points, but not to get discouraged by that…When she wasn’t hitting and no one was hitting, we were rolling. That start gave us a lot of confidence.”

As perfect as the first quarter was, there was still 30 minutes to play and although the Iowa lead grew as large as 23-4, USC came storming back with relentless defensive pressure. An extended 17-1 from the Trojans fueled by a flurry of forced turnovers with their press cut into the Hawkeyes advantage. Then, in the closing seconds of the half, JuJu Watkins got the rim for a layup, before forcing a turnover and taking it herself for another lay-in at the buzzer. After falling behind by as many as 19 points, USC outscored Iowa 25-5 to end the half and took a 1-point lead into the locker room.

“All of the sudden, we got hesitant (against the press) and when you get on your heels against a really great team (momentum can turn), said Jensen. “You don’t want to catch it low in the corners, you want to catch it higher and look for the slicer…We just lost our way a bit and I wasn’t pleased with that.”

Midway through the third quarter, the Trojans started to get into a rhythm, and it looked like, for a bit, that the Hawkeyes luck had run out. Freshman Avery Howell hit a couple of big shots to put USC in front, while a Kiki Iriafen basket, plus the foul extended the lead to 45-39. The game teetered on the edge of danger, but the Hawkeyes dug deep and hung around. They ended the quarter on a 6-0 run, including a Lucy Olsen midrange pullup at the buzzer to make it 51-50 Iowa heading into the final quarter.

“I’ve been struggling and because we’ve been losing, I feel like I haven’t helped a lot,” said Olsen. “I’m glad today the shots were falling.”

“Right before Lucy started, I went up to her and I said, ‘You know how much I believe in you.’ I said, it’s go time.'”

In the fourth quarter, Lucy Olsen stepped up and looked like the player that was third in the country in scoring last season. She put up 23 second half points, en route to a season-high 28 points on 10/18 shooting.

As great as Olsen was down the stretch, Addi O’Grady was phenomenal in her own right. With Hannah Stuelke on the bench with four fouls, O’Grady was thrust into the lineup at the beginning of the fourth quarter. She never went back to the bench, putting up eight points on 4/5 shooting over the final ten minutes.

“I felt like that particular top and in look, I felt like we could have success and then Addi just got pretty confident (in the fourth),” said Jensen. “Then when Addi would float out to the elbow, some ball screen action, (USC) was icing and Addi is pretty good out there.”

As for Stuelke, who didn’t enter back into the game in the fourth quarter?

“When it was rolling, Hannah was just cheering her little heart out.”

Lucy Olsen and Addi O’Grady combined to score 23 of the Hawkeyes 25 points in the fourth quarter. A couple of O’Grady free throw line jumpers, plus a steal and score from Olsen pushed the Hawkeyes lead to 69-60. Then, with under just two minutes to play, Olsen got to the bucket for a basket, plus the foul to make it a double-digit lead. A dagger to the heart of the Trojans. The party was about to begin.

Pretty Basketball 😍#Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/OliEna5iPe

— Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB) February 2, 2025

As the final buzzer sounded, the Hawkeyes bench spilled onto the floor and soon after, so did the students. A court storm to cap off the upset.

“It’s such a great lesson, a life lesson,” said Jensen. “Adversity is hard, but if you keep showing up, it’s going to turn and so that’s why I feel really grateful and I’m just so happy for them. I really love coaching them.”

Defensively, Iowa knew that JuJu Watkins was going to get her points. Watkins finished with 27 points, but had to work for all of them, shooting 8 of 22 (36.3%) from the floor and just 1 of 7 (14.3%) from three-point range. JuJu spoke after the game about the defensive effort she faced.

“Like other teams, they were always sending two or more at me, so it’s not something I haven’t seen before,” said Watkins. “I would say that, plus the environment, and all that was going on, but I think it was an off night for our whole team, and that was a testament to the environment.”

“We fought our way back and came up short. (Iowa) played great tonight.”

On the night, the Hawkeyes were 25 of 56 (44.6%) from the floor and 5 of 18 (27.8%) from three-point range. Outside of the contributions from Olsen and O’Grady, Iowa got 11 points, 9 rebounds from Syd Affolter, while Hannah Stuelke added ten points and five rebounds. The rebounding battle finished even at 37-37 and the points off turnovers battle swayed in Iowa’s favor by a single point, 17-16.

USC shot 23 of 65 (35.4%) from the floor and 7 of 24 (29.2%) from three-point range. The post duo of Kiki Iriafen and Rayah Marshall was held in check for just 15 points on 5 of 15 shooting. It’s just the fourth time this season that the Trojans have been held below 70 points.

Up Next: The Hawkeyes travel up north for a matchup against the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Thursday. Tipoff is set for 7:00pm CT on the Big Ten Network.