Iowa women’s basketball overcomes slow start in season-opening win over Northern Illinois

IOWA CITY — On a night that began with the unveiling of Iowa women’s basketball’s 2023-24 Final Four banner, the Hawkeyes showed some imperfections at the start of the quest for its next banner.

But the reigning national runner-up ultimately did enough to walk away with a 91-73 win over Northern Illinois in Wednesday’s season opener at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“It would have been great if we won by 35,” said Lucy Olsen, the transfer guard from Villanova. “But ... we know what we need to work on now, and you got to fight through the hard times and figure it out. Not everything’s going to go exactly how you want it.”

Iowa Coach Jan Jensen said the team “really lacked a lot of consistency” in the win over Northern Illinois.

“We had too many one-pass shots, but when we really worked our offense and we did that consistently, we got a few runs,” Jensen said.

Olsen led Iowa in her first (official) game as a Hawkeye with 19 points on 9-of-17 shooting. She was especially efficient in the third quarter, when she had eight points on 4-of-5 shooting and three assists.

Fellow guard Teagan Mallegni also had quite the Hawkeye debut. The 6-foot-1 freshman scored 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting. Guards Kylie Feuerbach and Taylor McCabe also finished with double-digit point totals.

Addison O’Grady, starting at center over freshman standout Ava Heiden, had 12 points on an efficient 5-for-6 shooting.

Northern Illinois, meanwhile, shot 49 percent against the Hawkeyes. The Huskies suffered 25 turnovers versus 15 assists against Iowa’s defense.

Iowa did not always make it look easy against Northern Illinois — a team that only won by two against Louisiana earlier this week.

The Hawkeyes missed eight consecutive shots in the first quarter and were trailing Northern Illinois at points in the first and second quarter.

But then the Hawkeyes finally distanced themselves with a 14-0 run in the second quarter and maintained a double-digit lead for the rest of the night.

“Last year and two years ago, you’re getting everybody’s best shot,” Jensen said. “This program will continue to get everybody’s best shot. ... If you’re not bringing the presence consistently and you let them get on a roll, it’s very cool for them to play in this environment if they’re a competitor.”

Iowa has now won 25 consecutive season openers. Wednesday’s 18-point margin was Iowa’s closest nonconference game against a non-power-conference team since its 14-point win over Northern Iowa in 2022.

“With these games, you’re still trying to figure out who your people are,” Jensen said. “We have a lot of depth, but you’re trying to figure out how and when and who and what combination. ... Maybe this game, we might have set everybody up for that inconsistency a bit.”

Iowa was playing without Sydney Affolter, who usually “steadies a lot of waters,” as she recovers from a knee procedure. Jensen said the staff is being “slow and cautious” with Affolter’s recovery.

“The most important thing we do is in the Big Ten season,” Jensen said. “And I want to make sure that we don’t put her in a position where we play a couple, then we sit out a couple of games.”

Wednesday’s win is Jensen’s first as head coach after taking over for longtime friend and mentor Lisa Bluder earlier this year.

“It’s nice to get that one,” Jensen said. “I think sometimes too much is made of it, but I understand why. Lisa is iconic. And taking over and a lot of new faces — so it feels really good to get it.”

The road is about to get more difficult for the Jensen-led Hawkeyes as they travel to Charlotte to play Virginia Tech in the Ally Tipoff on Sunday.

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