After Caitlin Clark’s title-less college career, Lucy Olsen takes pride in Iowa maintaining the same high standards and ambition

Caitlin Clark isn’t there anymore, but Lucy Olsen and the Iowa Hawkeyes are still playing in March and looking to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament, even without the all-time leading scorer in NCAA Division I history.

The senior guard went on “We Need to Talk” with Ashley Nicole Moss and among other things, talked about the Hawkeyes this year. Without Clark, Iowa managed to get a sixth seed.

“I don’t think we checked off the championship yet. But yeah, I think that we showed people that we’re still Iowa basketball and we’re still here, so we can make some noise,” Lucy Olsen said (1:17).

Iowa went 22-10 this season with a 10-8 Big Ten record in its first season without their star player. Olsen led the Hawkeyes with 18 points and 4.9 assists per game. She also averaged 3.6 rebounds.

Despite Caitlin Clark’s historic run, Iowa failed to win a title during her stay, losing in the final in her last two years at the school. In 2023, they fell to Angel Reese and the LSU Tigers, and a year later it was the South Carolina Gamecocks taking the hardware.

The guard set NCAA records for career points, assists, three-pointers made, and points in the NCAA Tournament.

Now it's up to Olsen to lead a veteran Hawkeyes team in the tourney. The Villanova transfer is trying to keep her mindset on the court rather than the fact that any game could be her last wearing an Iowa jersey now. Iowa will face Murray State in the first round of the national tournament.

“It’s crazy that it’s my last season so I’m trying not to think about it, but at the same time it’s the last chance I get, so I’m just going to try to make the most of it,” Lucy Olsen said.

Lucy Olsen shares special March Madness memories

While she is entering what could be her last trip to March Madness as a player, Iowa guard Lucy Olsen talked to Ashley Nicole Moss about her favorite memories from previous tournaments.

But rather than it being a moment on the court, the former Villanova guard remembered what the atmosphere and the experience of being right there was like.

“I think just the bus rides, the flights with my team, because it’s the last go around so you just remember everything a little bit more and really you don’t take it for granted. So I think just those special moments of taking the airplane flight because it’s the last one of the season, you never know,” Lucy Olsen said.

The guard transferred to Iowa before this season after three years at Villanova.