2024-25 Iowa women’s basketball: Expectations were met, but not necessarily exceeded

NORMAN, Okla. — If you were disappointed in this Iowa women’s basketball season, your expectations likely were too high.

If you woke up Tuesday morning over-the-moon giddy, perhaps your standards weren’t high enough.

The first post-Clark/post-Bluder campaign crashed hard Monday in a 96-62 loss to Oklahoma. It was the first time all season that the Hawkeyes (23-11) were thoroughly overmatched.

“It’s not how I wanted it to end, but we got to share so many good memories together,” senior Sydney Affolter said afterward.

“We played some great basketball in March.”

Actually, go back further on the calendar. They played at a high level since late January.

Five straight losses had the Hawkeyes teetering at 12-7, and “it didn’t look like we were going to go anywhere but the (WNIT),” Iowa Coach Jan Jensen said of her first season in charge.

“I feel it was a huge success. We had a lot of shadows looming. We lost a lot of close games. We hadn’t let one really get away from us until now.”

Jensen’s first big win came long before its season-opening victory over Northern Illinois on Nov. 6.

It came in May, after Lisa Bluder announced her retirement and AD Beth Goetz announced Jensen as Bluder’s successor.

That win was more than just the hire.

“Everybody stayed,” Jensen said. “Lucy (Olsen) didn’t have to hold. Hannah (Stuelke) could have tested the waters.

“We had a big challenge together, and everybody weathered it.”

Iowa reached the NCAA finals in 2023 and 2024. With Clark and Kate Martin off to the WNBA, another deep run was unrealistic — regardless of who was coaching.

The Hawkeyes opened with eight straight wins and were in the Associated Press Top-25 for a few weeks.

They were 12-2 before that midseason slump; the five consecutive losses came by a combined 24 points.

Two of them were a direct result of shabby free-throw shooting, a malady foreign to this program.

But they stormed back with six wins in a row, including an upset over eventual Big Ten champion USC on Feb. 2, an unforgettable day in which Clark’s jersey was retired.

At 10-8, the Hawkeyes finished in a four-way tie for eighth place in the Big Ten, then reached the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament before dropping a 60-59 decision to Ohio State.

They earned a 6-seed to the NCAA tournament, throttled Murray State in the first round, 92-57, then were on the other end of a whipping Monday.

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The nation’s third-leading scorer in 2023-24 at Villanova, Olsen fit in well with the Hawkeyes. She led the team in scoring at 17.9 points per game, and did it with an omnipresent smile.

“I’m super grateful that I got to play here,” she said Monday. “There were ups and downs, but everybody became a family, and I’m super grateful.”

Olsen headlines a departing crew of four.

You could argue that Affolter (8.5 points, team-high 7.8 rebounds per game), a Chicago native, was the toughest player on the roster.

She didn’t score Monday (0-for-7 from the floor), but contributed nine rebounds and five assists.

Affolter’s legacy?

“Hopefully just being a great teammate and leader,” she said. “I’ll remember so many big games, big moments. I’ll cherish the friendships more than anything.”

Six-foot-4 post Addison O’Grady had her best season in 2024-25, contributing 9.3 points per game and shooting 62.1 percent from the floor. Another post, A.J. Ediger played in 13 games and scored 26 points.

If none of the eligible returners transfer out — “I would be as surprised as anybody (if someone departs),” Jensen said — 52.8 percent of the Hawkeyes’ scoring will be back.

That includes starters Hannah Stuelke, Kylie Feuerbach and Taylor McCabe, each of whom will be seniors.

Expect post Ava Heiden and guards Taylor Stremlow and Aaliyah Guyton to become major contributors as sophomores, and Teagan Mallegni could join them as such.

“I love our freshmen now, and I love our freshmen coming in,” Jensen said.

Many project Addie Deal, a freshman next season, as Iowa’s next star. The California native is a five-star, 6-foot guard.

Layla Hays (6-5 post from Alaska) and Journey Houston (from Davenport North) join Deal in a recruiting class that is generally projected as top-15 nationally.

Their arrival leaves Iowa with two available scholarships, and it sounds as if Jensen intends to fill them.

“Hopefully, we’ll get some portal action,” she said. “I hope it doesn’t come down to money. It used to be about academics. Now the questions we get aren’t about that.

“Our motto will always be to develop. I want us to win the way we’ve always done it ... develop talent and add a piece here or there.”

2025-26 Iowa women’s basketball roster

Seniors (4) — Hannah Stuelke, Taylor McCabe, Kylie Feuerbach, Jada Gyamfi

Juniors — (None)

Sophomores (6) — Ava Heiden, Aaliyah Guyton, Taylor Stremlow, Teagan Mallegni, Callie Levin, Kennise Johnson

Freshmen (3) — Addie Deal, Layla Hays, Journey Houston

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com