Hawkeyes take out frustrations, thrash Washington

The Hawkeyes were due. Well, they were well past due.

As close loss after close loss piled up into a five-game losing streak, head coach Jan Jensen urged the fanbase to stay patient. On Wednesday night in Seattle, her team took out their frustrations in a major way. The Hawkeyes (13-7, 3-6) put up a season-high 50 points in the first half en route to an impressive 85-61 road win over Washington (13-7, 4-4) at Alaska Airlines Arena.

“I feel a lot of relief and I’m so happy for the players,” said head coach Jan Jensen on the radio postgame show. “It’s hard when you come close and then you come close again and then you come close again…Everybody tonight looked like they just played free and my little thing before the game was just to be us. We know what us is all about, so let’s just show it tonight and I’m really happy they got to do that.”

The Huskies jumped out to an early 7-2 lead in the first quarter, but Addi O’Grady was able to assert herself as force in the paint and convert basket, after basket against the Huskies interior defense. She finished the opening quarter with 12 points to help the Hawkeyes out to a 26-14 lead, while she finished the game with 17 points and four rebounds.

Three-point shooting has been a struggle for the majority of the season, but Iowa had the three-ball cooking early and often. They hit all eight threes they attempted in the opening half, including five in the span of six minutes. Taylor McCabe and Lucy Olsen each buried three triples in the half., while the final one in a sequence, a deep wing triple from Teagan Mallegni put the Hawkeyes in front 48-20 late in the half. Amongst all of the hot shooting was one performance in particular that calmed a lot of nerves in the locker room and with the fanbase.

Lucy Olsen came into the game shooting just 31.5% from the floor in Big Ten play and was coming off a season-low four points in the loss to Oregon. She was dialed in from the opening tip, knocking down all eight shots that she took on the night, including four made threes. Olsen finished with a team-high 20 points and six assists. It was a breakthrough performance that was seemingly just as due as the team’s.

3️⃣3️⃣ for 3️⃣@LucyOlsenbball has 13 pts. #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/CO6HXfs6pW

— Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB) January 23, 2025

“I’ve been struggling a little bit, so it was nice to see the ball go through the basket, and to get the win,” said Olsen. “(I’ve been) talking with the coaches, talking with my teammates and trusting the work I’ve put in, not getting away from all the practice, extra practices…I’m glad I kept staying in the gym and not giving up.”

Falling apart in the second half, and the fourth quarter has been the theme in several Iowa losses this season, including their most recent losses against Nebraska and Oregon. For the first time in a while, the Hawkeyes kept their foot on the gas and built an advantage that was impossible to overcome.

At one point the Iowa offense churned out 14 straight made field goals over the span of 13:30 in the second and third quarter. Lucy Olsen kept the Hawkeyes perfect start from behind the arc going (9/9), raining in her fourth made triple of the night to make it 65-34 with 4:49 to play in the third quarter.

The lead would grow to as large as 36 points in the fourth quarter, before the Huskies put on a press against the Iowa backups and finished the game on a 19-7 run. Their increased effort was way too little, and way too late, as the Hawkeyes coasted to an 85-61 win.

“It hasn’t been the easiest ride,” said senior Addi O’Grady. “A five-game losing streak, most of us are not used to that in any way, but I think we just have so much trust in our team, the coaches, our teammates, and our whole program culture in general.”

On the night, Iowa shot a blistering 71.7% (33/46) from the floor and 69.2% (9/13) from three-point range. Their 50 first half points were the most in a half this season, while their 85 total points are the most since the win over UNI back in December. Lucy Olsen (20), Addi O’Grady (17), Kylie Feuerbach (12) and Taylor McCabe (11) all scored in double figures. The Hawkeyes outrebounded Washington 32-16, and held the Huskies to their lowest scoring output since early December.

The path to an NCAA Tournament at-large bid for Iowa is still a lengthy one, but both sides came into the day listed as members of the ‘Last Four In’ grouping by ESPN’s Charlie Creme. They entered the contest at #37 in the NET rankings and will be set to move up, after adding this Quad 1 victory to their ledger.

Up Next: The Hawkeyes return to Iowa City to host the Northwestern Wildcats next Tuesday night. Tipoff is set for 7:00pm CT on the Big Ten Network.