Iowa Women's Basketball Season Preview 2024-25: Biggest games, key players to watch and more

Iowa steps into the 2024-25 women's basketball season without all-time leading scorer Caitlin Clark and longtime coach Lisa Bluder. New coach Jan Jansen hopes to continue the Hawkeyes' successful run in the NCAA Tournament, parading a roster of eight returnees, five freshmen and one highly touted transfer, who had a breakout season in Villanova.

Here's an inside look into Iowa's college basketball campaign from its biggest games to key players to watch out for.

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Iowa's biggest games of the 2024-25 season

Iowa will have a heavy nonconference schedule, featuring five teams who made it to the NCAA Tournament. The Hawkeyes face ACC foe Virginia Tech for the second consecutive year in the Ally Tipoff on Nov. 10 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Iowa visit Missouri Valley representatives Drake on Nov. 17 and play Kansas in a neutral venue at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, Dakota on Nov. 20. They travel to Brooklyn, New York to take on SEC squad Tennessee in the Women's Champions Classic on Dec. 7. Finally, the Hawkeyes will clash with Iowa State in the Iowa Corn-Cy Hawk Series on Dec. 11 in Iowa City.

Meanwhile, Iowa is set to play 18 games against Big 10 opponents and will meet Nebraska twice in a home and away setup. The Hawkeyes host Indiana, Maryland, Northwestern, Purdue, Rutgers, UCLA, USC and Wisconsin and visit Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State and Washington during the regular season.

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Top Iowa players to watch out for in the 2024-25 season

#1 Lucy Olsen

NCAA Womens Basketball: Big East Conference Tournament Quarterfinal - Marquette vs Villanova - Source: Imagn

Lucy Olsen is coming off a breakout season with Villanova where she averaged 23.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.9 steals per game. The five-foot-nine transfer shot 43.8% from the field and 80.7 from the free-throw line.

The incoming senior will have enormous shoes to fill, taking over as the team's main scorer in the 2024-25 women's basketball season.

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#2 Sydney Affolter

Sydney Affolter (Image Source: IMAGN)

Sydney Affolter served as Iowa's spark off the bench until she was picked to start in the final stretch of the 2023-24 season following Molly Davis' season-ending injury. The five-foot-11 guard averaged 8.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 2.3 apg and 1.1 apg.

Affolter shot 55.2% from the field, including 41.4% from the 3-point line and made 83.0% of her shots from the free-throw line. She's expected to form a backcourt tandem with Lucy Olsen this coming season for Iowa.

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#3 Hannah Stuelke

Hannah Stuelke has doubled her average from 6.5 ppg in the 2022-23 season to 14.0 ppg in 2023-24 season. That includes the 47-point explosion she had against Penn State on Feb. 8.

Stuelke also had 6.6 rpg and 1.2 apg last season as she was the second-leading scorer behind Caitlin Clark. The six-foot-two incoming junior, who shot 62.7% from the field, will be the team's top post presence and the possible recipient of Lucy Olsen's passes to the paint.

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Predictions for Iowa's 2024-25 season

Jan Jensen will have her hands full in Iowa's first season without Caitlin Clark. The Hawkeyes will still be a contender in the Big 10, but missing a big-time scorer like Clark would be huge for a team that has high NCAA Tournament aspirations.

They hope to find that offensive weapon in Lucy Olsen and a bunch of freshmen who were top-caliber prospects in their high school years. Iowa will also have to bear with the challenge of former Pac-12 teams USC and UCLA, who transfered to the Big 10.

The Hawkeyes are pegged to win 20-25 games this coming season and must find enough motivation to go all the way to the NCAA Tournament where they have reached the final for two consecutive seasons.

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Will Iowa make the 2025 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament? Let's know your views in the comments section.