Lucy Olsen ‘more likely than not’ to play Saturday against Tennessee

IOWA CITY -- Coach Jan Jensen expressed optimism that Lucy Olsen will be available when 17th-ranked Iowa faces Tennessee in the Women's Champions Classic on Saturday.

“I would say it’s more likely than not, because she’s so tough,” Jensen said during a news conference Tuesday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. “We’ll have to see how she responds, and how it looks (Wednesday).”

A senior guard and the Hawkeyes’ leader in both points and assists per game (17.3 and 5.3, respectively), Olsen missed two games at the Cancun Classic last week after cutting her knee open at practice last Wednesday.

“We were just about to practice, and I tripped on the court and fell on the tile, scraping up my knee,” said Olsen, a transfer from Villanova. “I was in the bathroom, looking at it, and I thought, ‘Shoot, this doesn’t look good.’”

With Olsen out, the Hawkeyes’ point-guard duties fell into the lap of two freshmen. Taylor Stremlow started, with Aaliyah Guyton backing up.

Guyton, who suffered a torn ACL last year (as a high school senior in Peoria, Ill.), made her collegiate debut late in the Hawkeyes’ win over Washington State on Nov. 24.

Four days later in Mexico, she was a key factor.

“I don’t know if we win (against Rhode Island last Thursday) without Aaliyah in there,” Jensen said.

“You ask her to go in there and handle the pressure. Oh, and you need to direct the offense.”

Guyton scored seven points in a 69-62 win over Rhode Island, then tallied 11 in a 68-48 victory over BYU.

“I think I did pretty well,” Guyton said. “Not having played in 10 months, then coming in against a whole different level.”

The Cancun developments made Jensen the first coach to begin her Iowa head coaching career with eight straight wins.

Tipoff Saturday is 6 p.m. (CT) at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com