IOWA CITY, Iowa — Two days after losing two-time national player of the year Caitlin Clark to the WNBA, the Iowa women’s basketball team landed her replacement in the transfer portal. Villanova guard Lucy Olsen, who ranked third nationally in scoring at 23.3 points per game, committed to the Hawkeyes tonight, one day after visiting the Iowa campus.
New beginnings ✍️ @IowaWBB #Hawkeyes #letsgo 💛🖤 pic.twitter.com/CmlhzmCYGd
— Lucy Olsen (@LucyOlsenbball) April 17, 2024
It was a major recruiting win for Iowa, which lost Clark and her 31.6 points per game to the Indiana Fever as the WNBA’s top selection on Monday night.
GO DEEPER
Is Caitlin Clark’s star power strong enough to spike WNBA fandom?
Olsen, a 5-foot-9 guard with one year remaining, was named first-team All-Big East and earned the league’s Most Improved Player Award. She also added team highs in steals (65) and assists (134) and pulled down 4.8 rebounds per game. Olsen averaged 43.8 percent shooting and 29.4 percent from 3-point range. She had 25 games of 20-plus points, including a 40-point outing against Temple.
Villanova finished 22-13 and advanced to the WBIT finals, where it lost to Illinois.
How does Olsen fit with Iowa?
Starting with Clark, the Hawkeyes lost a ton off their national runner-up squad…
