As Iowa continues to advance, Sydney Affolter continues to blossom

ALBANY, N.Y. — If a transfer-portal exit ever crossed Sydney Affolter’s mind, it didn’t stay there long.

“I just focused on my game,” the rugged do-it-all junior said Sunday.

“I made a commitment when I was a junior in high school, and I was going to keep it.”

When opportunity — big opportunity — finally knocked, Affolter was ready.

More than ready.

“It’s what we all want in life, to get a shot,” Iowa assistant coach Jan Jensen said.

Iowa lost Molly Davis, perhaps for the remainder of the season, to a knee injury in the regular-season women’s basketball finale against Ohio State on March 3.

Enter Affolter, and the second-ranked Hawkeyes (32-4) have kept humming along. They’ll face No. 8 LSU (31-5) in an NCAA tournament regional final at 6 p.m. (CT) Monday at MVP Arena.

“All year long, I was telling her, you're the sixth player in (the Big Ten),” Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder said. “She could be starting on every other team.

“I loved what she said one time. She said a lot of people (transfer) when they're not getting the starting position or when they're not getting their playing time, and they jump to where they think the grass is going to be greener. She said, ‘I stuck with it because I love this place.’”

Affolter has started in the Hawkeyes’ last six games, and she has blossomed into one of the team’s most impactful players.

“She’s a stud,” Kate Martin said.

In that six-game span — three in the Big Ten tournament (she was an all-tournament pick) and three in the NCAA — Affolter is averaging 13.0 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. She is shooting 58.1 percent from the field, 95.5 percent from the free-throw line.

“She's been so good for us, and I'm just so proud of her because she played behind two really good players in Kate and McKenna (Warnock) to start her career. She never really got many minutes,” Caitlin Clark said.

“For her this year to kind of take a step and really make this moment hers has been really fun to watch. Nobody deserves it more than her. More than anything, you're just happy for her.”

Versatility helps.

“She just seamlessly went into the starting lineup, and I think it's because of the style that we play,” Bluder said. “We’re kind of positionless so it really doesn't matter — if you're a 1, 2, 3 or 4 — it doesn't really matter, they all do the same things.”

Affolter can play any of those positions effectively.

She’s a guard. Or a forward.

She’s a ball player.

“She’s a stud.”

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Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com