“Love ya long time”- Lucy Olsen sends birthday wishes to South Carolina cheerleader friend via IG snaps

Iowa women's basketball star Lucy Olsen took to Instagram to wish her childhood best friend, Corinne Ferko, on her birthday. Ferko is a cheerleader for South Carolina and turned 22 on Wednesday. Olsen took to her Instagram Story to convey her birthday greetings. Olsen shared a throwback photo of Ferko and herself and captioned the image:

"Happy birthday bestie. Love ya long time @corinneferko. 22!!! You're so old!"

Lucy Olsen wishes best friend, Corinne Ferko a happy birthday on IG (Image via @lucy3olsen)

Born in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, Olsen is the middle of three girls. After playing high school basketball, Olsen began her college career at Villanova where she was named to the Rookie Team of the Year in her freshman season. She also ranked third in the country after scoring 23.3 points per game in her junior season.

Olsen transferred to Iowa for the 2024–25 season where is averaging 16.4 points, 3.4 rebounds and 4.9 assists on 41.5 percent shooting per game.

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Lucy Olsen feels good ahead of Iowa matchup vs Nebraska

Iowa women's basketball's 2024-25 season has been anything but smooth. The Hawkeyes suffered their third consecutive loss as Indiana beat the hosts 74-66 on Sunday, Jan. 12. Lucy Olsen scored eight points and four assists in 23 minutes of playing time.

Despite the loss, which dropped Iowa to 12-5 overall and 2-4 in the Big Ten Conference, Olsen remained positive that the Hawkeyes could turn things around in the upcoming game against Nebraska on Friday, Jan. 17.

"We know that this adversity is just going to make us stronger in the future," senior Lucy Olsen said during a pre-game press conference on Wednesday, Jan. 15. "Everyone is going to have ups and downs throughout the season. We've done a lot of talking and some team bonding that will hopefully fix things. But I feel good going into this game." (0:13)

“We all want to win. We are all in this together. We all love each other. In the end, it is always a good feeling coming out of it (team discussions)," she added. (4:02)

“It is intense. Like, ‘Alright, now is the time we have to pick it up. Now, we do not have a lot of time to lose.’ So, I think all the emotions come up, but in the end, we definitely know it is all out of love and we all want to win this together. …"

The Hawkeyes will look to avoid a first four-game losing streak since 2016 by producing a strong home showing against Nebraska (13-4, 4-2).

As for Iowa head coach, Jan Jensen, the issues plaguing her team, particularly the turnovers, were not surprising. Although Jensen said she was disappointed in the loss to Indiana, she still believes her team remains closer to finding its rhythm than hitting rock bottom.

However, she said they would need to set players up in the best possible positions for them to showcase their strengths.