Iowa needed an experienced guard, and Lucy Olsen fit the bill well with her midfield game

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa found an experienced point guard in the spring to fill Caitlin Clark's position.

But while Villanova transfer Lucy Olsen finished just a few spots behind Clark in the rankings of the nation's top scorers last season, her offensive game is very different from her predecessor's long-range game.

Olsen, who averaged 23.3 points per game last season, made just 29.4% of her 3-point shots last season. However, she owes a large part of her points to a mid-range jumper who has become one of Olsen's main talents.

“Not many people have it, so having this mid-range game is definitely an advantage,” Olsen said.

Memories of Clark, the national player of the year who led the Hawkeyes to back-to-back appearances in the national championship game, were still etched into the broadcast during media day Thursday. However, head coach Jan Jensen brought up her “we got next” philosophy that she preached to her players.

“I think what's important, especially with them, is that you just let them look in the windshield,” said Jensen, who was named associate head coach in May following the resignation of Lisa Bluder. “We've talked a lot about just taking the rearview mirror off, especially for the returners' game, but also for the freshmen, because it's all new and you have to keep looking forward. “I want them to really focus on the next one Focus on the opportunity and remind them it’s a process.”

Olsen is one of the Hawkeyes' newcomers. She was a unanimous first-team All-Big East selection last season and scored 1,504 points in her three seasons with the Wildcats.

During this time, Olsen developed her mid-range shot.

“I would say just because of my length and the fact that I wasn't always the strongest, it was a little harder for me to get to the basket,” Olsen said. “I guess I just went back to the middle class. I'm not really sure where it comes from. But once I started getting good at it, I just kept working on it.”

In addition to Clark, the Hawkeyes also lost sixth-year forward/guard Kate Martin and fifth-year guard Gabbie Marshall, so the Iowa staff knew they had to find an experienced guard in the NCAA transfer portal. Olsen has proven to be a good choice.

“Lucy, she sets the tone,” said Iowa assistant coach Abby Stamp, who coaches the guards. “This child never takes away a possession – it’s hard to pick her up off the ground.”

Guard Sydney Affolter, one of two returning players from last season, said Olsen “fits in.”

“She has the same personality, the same level of play and most importantly she’s just a great friend and a great teammate,” Affolter said. “She does a lot of things that we all do, and she fits into our culture here in Iowa.”

The Hawkeyes' run under Clark led to a season ticket sellout last season for the first time in program history, and Iowa repeated that this season.

Olsen, standing on the floor of Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa as she spoke to the media, looked around at the empty seats.

“We train here every day and it looks so cool being empty,” Olsen said. “If I just try to fully imagine it, I can’t process it. So I'm really excited to see how loud and excited the energy will be here as we exit the tunnel for the first game. It’s going to be great.”

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