Tag: Lucy Olsen

Lucy Olsen to Iowa ranked one of ESPN’s top-five transfer portal moves

Iowa had a gap at guard and did more than just fill it with the addition of Lucy Olsen. The move is ranked a top-five transfer portal move.

Caitlin Clark left a crater-sized gap on the Iowa Hawkeyes women’s basketball team with her departure to the WNBA as the No. 1 draft pick by the Indiana Fever.

Iowa didn’t panic, though. They reloaded with very high-level talent. Former Villanova guard and the NCAA’s third-highest scoring player last season, Lucy Olsen, hit the transfer portal and didn’t take long to find her new home in Iowa City.

ESPN ranks the addition of Olsen to the Hawkeyes as a top-five women’s basketball transfer portal move this offseason.

5. Lucy Olsen, 5-9, G, Jr., Villanova Wildcats

Committed to Iowa Hawkeyes
With no chance to replace Caitlin Clark‘s impact, the Hawkeyes needed someone to take on some of that production. In Olsen, they found the best possible replacement in the portal. Only Clark and JuJu Watkins averaged more points per game this season than Olsen.

After the departure of Maddy Siegrist, Olsen thrived as the Wildcats’ new go-to player, jumping from 12.4 to 23.2 points per game and earning Big East most improved player honors. She also led the conference in minutes played and started all 105 of Villanova’s games over the past three seasons. – Charlie Creme, ESPN

Olsen provides instant experience and scoring ability to the Hawkeyes’ offense. Olsen shot a career-best 43.8% from the field last season and upped her free throw shooting to 80.7%, another career-best.

Lucy Olsen projects to be in the starting lineup next year. Olsen and the rest of the team know she doesn’t need to try to fill Caitlin Clark’s shoes. With the experience of forward Hannah Stuelke and guard Sydney Affolter next to her, Olsen can be a pure scorer from the guard position, an addition that takes Iowa from good to great.

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Kentucky transfer G Maddie Scherr cancels Iowa visit following Lucy Olsen commitment

Following Lucy Olsen’s commitment to Iowa, Kentucky transfer guard Maddie Scherr canceled her scheduled visit to the Hawkeyes.

The Iowa Hawkeyes originally had a visitor scheduled for Thursday.

Instead, Kentucky transfer point guard Maddie Scherr will look elsewhere. The 5-foot-10 senior guard canceled her visit after Iowa picked up a commitment from Villanova transfer point guard Lucy Olsen.

Hawkeye Report‘s Kyle Huesmann confirmed that news on Wednesday night.

It makes sense. Olsen steps right in as Iowa’s incumbent starting point guard, which would have been the starting slot Scherr was seeking. Plus, with Olsen’s commitment, Iowa is at the full 15 scholarship players.

That group features incoming freshmen Ava Heiden, Taylor Stremlow, Teagan Mallegni, Callie Levin and Aaliyah Guyton, redshirt freshman Ava Jones, sophomore Kennise Johnson, juniors Taylor McCabe, Jada Gyamfi and Hannah Stuelke and seniors Lucy Olsen, Sydney Affolter, Kylie Feuerbach, AJ Ediger and Addison O’Grady.

Scherr averaged 12.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists last season with the Wildcats. The Florence, Ky., native shot 33.5% from the field, 28.8% from 3-point range and 81.6% from the charity stripe.

While the Hawkeyes don’t have another roster spot for Scherr, Iowa fans will no doubt be excited about adding last season’s No. 3 leading scorer nationally in Olsen.

Olsen averaged 23.3 points per game last season with Villanova. The junior shot 43.8% from the field, 29.4% from 3-point range and 80.7% from the line. Olsen also averaged 4.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.9 steals per game.

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Iowa Hawkeyes land high-scoring guard Lucy Olsen in transfer portal

Iowa women’s basketball made a huge splash in the transfer portal. The Hawkeyes have landed high-scoring guard Lucy Olsen.

The Iowa Hawkeyes are making moves early in the transfer portal! Just days after losing their top star Caitlin Clark, Iowa has already found the next woman up. It was announced on Wednesday evening that Villanova guard Lucy Olsen has committed to Iowa.

The commitment comes quickly after Olsen visited the Hawkeyes on Tuesday. Iowa was reportedly one of the top teams making a heavy push to pick up Olsen in the transfer portal and it didn’t take long to bring her into the program.

Just who exactly is Iowa getting in Olsen? She was the third-highest scorer in the nation last season. Olsen was given the tall task last year of filling the shoes of one of the best women’s basketball players in the country after Maddie Siegrist left for the WNBA. She performed quite valiantly averaging 23.3 points per game.

Villanova, unfortunately, suffered a bit of disappointing season, failing to reach the NCAA Tournament though making it to the WBIT Finals. Villanova has seen a bit of a mass exodus following the season, with six players including Olsen hitting the transfer portal.

For the Hawkeyes, it’s a huge addition and a great statement from Lisa Bluder. The squad easily could have just been content with the success they’ve had in recent years with Caitlin Clark and opted for a bit more of a rebuilding approach. Instead, they recognized that there is still a lot more talent left in Iowa City and that a few big pieces could help them get back to the big dance.

Adding a top transfer portal recruit in Olsen sure is a fantastic way to help Iowa compete next year.

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Villanova transfer guard Lucy Olsen visiting Iowa women’s basketball on Tuesday

One of the top portal targets is visiting Iowa on Tuesday.

Iowa is taking a further step towards landing one of the top stars in the transfer portal. After reports last week that the Hawkeyes had interest in Villanova point guard Lucy Olsen, Edwin Arocho of Prep Girls Hoops reports that Iowa has an official visit scheduled with Olsen for Tuesday.

Olsen, a 5-foot-9 guard from Collegeville, Pa., entered the transfer portal on Tuesday. Hawkeye Insider’s Sean Bock reported Iowa’s interest in Olsen on Wednesday. This latest news supports Arocho’s prior report that Iowa was among the list of schools that have made the hardest push for Olsen out of the transfer portal.

According to Arocho, Iowa is joined by LSU, Maryland, Michigan, Tennessee, and West Virginia as programs that have recruited Olsen the hardest out of the transfer portal.

Olsen was the No. 3 scorer in women’s college basketball last season, averaging 23.3 points per game. The junior shot 43.8% from the field, 29.4% from 3-point range and 80.7% from the line. Olsen also averaged 4.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.9 steals per game.

For the Hawkeyes, Olsen is the exact type of player who can help them compete next season. Nobody should be expected to step in and just be Caitlin Clark, but Lucy Olsen is a fantastic player who can help lead the next generation of Hawkeyes.

While Iowa loses some pretty impactful players outside of Clark, there are some exciting prospects within the program. Olsen would be the best reliable star for Iowa to count on while some of their younger players continue to progress.

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Women’s basketball national scoring leaders as of March 3 (and steals)

History was made again this past weekend.

Caitlin Clark has reached the scoring mountaintop in college basketball. She passed Pete Maravich’s college scoring total and now is the all-time leader for either men or women. Here’s how far she ranks ahead of the other top 10 scorers in women’s basketball as well as their steals numbers in comparison to national leader [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag]:

Women’s basketball national scoring leaders as of Feb. 18 (and steals)

Hannah continues to hold serve at third.

For one of the few times all season this past week, an opponent was able to solve Notre Dame’s [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag]. NC State held the freshman phenom to a season-low 10 points.

It’s ironic that Hidalgo had her worst game when Iowa’s Caitlin Clark had her best game in which she not only broke the NCAA women’s scoring record but poured in a career-high 49 points. Alas, basketball is a funny game.

Here are the top 10 scorers in women’s basketball along with their steals numbers:

Women’s basketball national scoring leaders as of Feb. 11 (and steals)

History is about to be made in women’s hoops.

Iowa’s Caitlin Clark needs only eight points to break the all-time NCAA women’s scoring record. That means this coming week will be historic. But let’s see how she stacks up with [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] of Notre Dame. We also

Women’s basketball national scoring leaders as of Feb. 4 (and steals)

Notre Dame’s freshman phenom still is pretty good.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] continues to impressive with each passing game. The Notre Dame freshman scored a career-high 35 points over the past week. Who knows what she’ll be up to next? She ranks among the national scoring leaders as follows, and we’ve included their steals numbers, too:

Women’s basketball national scoring leaders as of Jan. 28 (and steals)

A certain star for Notre Dame continues to draw attention.

For the first time in her collegiate career, Notre Dame’s [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] was held without a steal against UConn. The tradeoff was she scored a career-high 34 points, which also is the Irish freshman record. Here’s what that means as far as her ranking among the national scoring leaders as well as their steals numbers:

Women’s basketball national scoring leaders as of Jan. 21 (and steals)

Thankfully, the person at the top of this list is OK.

Sunday brought the attention on the top women’s scorer in the country for all the wrong reasons. She collided with a fan who had stormed the court at the end of the game and was knocked down. Fortunately, she wasn’t injured. Here’s how far ahead she is among the other top scorers on the list and their steals numbers, including Notre Dame’s representative, who also leads the country in steals: