Lucy Olsen stats tonight: How many points did Iowa star score against Virginia?
Lucy Olsen fulfilled the expectations that came behind her Iowa Hawkeyes transfer this summer against the Virginia Tech Hokies on Sunday. With former program stars Gabbie Marshall and Kate Martin in the stands, the Hawkeyes defeated Virginia Tech 71-52 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Olsen led with a game-high 20 points on 9-for-21 shooting alongside six rebounds, four assists, one block and one steal. With the outing, she has now touched the 20-point mark in 11 of her previous 13 starts (divided among Iowa and Villanova).
Addison O'Grady and Hannah Stuelke contributed significantly to the total. O'Grady posted 18 points on a perfect 9-for-9 shooting while Stuelke added 16 points and seven rebounds off 6 of 17. The three starters combined for 54 points, outscoring the entire Virginia Tech roster.
Lucy Olsen began the game with seven first-quarter points, giving Iowa a 10-point lead after the first quarter. However, the Hawkeyes struggled to maintain the lead in the second stretch, allowing the Hokies to cut the deficit to 34-30 at halftime. Olsen and Stuelke had scored 23 of Iowa’s 34 points at the time.
With that win, Jan Jensen now becomes the second coach in Iowa history to start her tenure with a perfect 2-0 run. The first one to do it was Angie Lee, who coached the program from 1995 to 2000.
Lucy Olsen and Iowa will go through changes in their approach
Despite the win, Jan Jensen will force a change in the Hawkeyes' approach as they move deeper into the season. For the Virginia Tech outing, the Hawkeyes' primary focus was on defense, Jensen said, according to Hokies writer Tucker Terry.
“We really wanted to limit (Matilda) Ekh. I knew we couldn’t let Ekh get on a roll; that was first and foremost,” Jansen said.
Iowa determined the game's outcome when it limited the Hokies to just 31% shooting, while making 69% of their shots in the third quarter.
Iowa will look to harmonize the offense throughout its roster in the coming games, rather than having three of its starters score 70% of its points. A component of that will be the Hawkeyes' 3-point attempts. Behind Lucy Olsen's midrange mastery, the Hawkeyes only took 18 attempts from long range. That is 11 less from their season opener against Northern Illinois and six less than the Hokies.