Iowa HC Jan Jensen makes her true feelings known on JuJu Watkins after Hawkeyes stun USC during Caitlin Clark's special day

USC star JuJu Watkins in action against the Iowa Hawkeyes; Iowa coach Jan Jensen. Source: Imagn
USC star JuJu Watkins in action against the Iowa Hawkeyes; Iowa coach Jan Jensen. Source: Imagn

Jan Jensen and the Iowa Hawkeyes put on a show in front of Caitlin Clark during her jersey retirement day, recording a 76-69 upset win over JuJu Watkins and the USC Trojans in their Big Ten clash at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Sunday afternoon.

The Hawkeyes snapped the Trojans' 15-game winning streak thanks, in large part, to their stellar defense. USC missed 20 of its first 22 field-goal attempts and finished the game with a 35.4% shooting clip. The Trojans shot just 29.4% from beyond the arc, with Watkins going 1-of-7 from the 3-point area.

In the postgame press conference, a reporter asked Jensen about her game plan against Watkins, who entered the contest as the nation's third-leading scorer. She led the Trojans with 27 points, but wasn't efficient with her offense, shooting 8-for-22 from the field.

youtube-cover
"I loved our game plan before the game and I thought it held through," Jensen said (Timestamp: 7:33). "She took a lot of shots to get [her] points. She’s going to get her points. I mean, she’s great, right?"
"Making it hard. That’s what you got to do with the great ones. You just try to make it hard and make other people beat you, which they did on occasion."

Jan Jensen was pleased with the way her team defended JuJu Watkins, particularly when using zone defense in the second half:

“I thought we did a pretty good job trying to crowd her. When she saw a seam, we were quickly there. And I was happy with our zone. I wanted our zone to work. You guys haven’t seen the zone very often this year. The first half, we didn’t need to play it," Jensen said (Timestamp: 8:09).
"The second half, I thought that was a really good shift to go mostly zone. She's a great player, just smooth and all the things. But I think our players did a pretty good job at that game plan."

Lucy Olsen and Addison O'Grady deliver for Jan Jensen in Iowa's win over USC

Lucy Olsen starred for the Iowa Hawkeyes in their win over the No. 4 USC Trojans, scoring a game-high 28 points, grabbing four rebounds, dishing out four assists and recording three steals. She shot 10-for-18 from the floor and made a living at the charity stripe, knocking down eight of her nine attempts there.

NCAA Womens Basketball: Southern California at Iowa - Source: Imagn
NCAA Womens Basketball: Southern California at Iowa - Source: Imagn

Addison O'Grady also stepped up for Jensen, scoring 13 points off the bench. Olsen and O'Grady delivered when the Hawkeyes needed them the most, combining for 23 points in the fourth quarter to seal the win for Iowa.

Dawn Staley, Geno Auriemma, or Kim Mulkey - who is NCAAW's highest-paid coach? Find out here

Quick Links

Edited by Nadim El Kak
Sportskeeda logo
Close menu
WWE
WWE
NBA
NBA
NFL
NFL
MMA
MMA
Tennis
Tennis
NHL
NHL
Golf
Golf
MLB
MLB
Soccer
Soccer
F1
F1
WNBA
WNBA
More
More
bell-icon Manage notifications