Jan Jensen Notes Freshman Filling Caitlin Clark, Kate Martin Void Amid Iowa Skid

The Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball team suffered a devastating 87-84 defeat to the Nebraska Cornhuskers at home on January 16.

This marked the Hawkeyes' fourth consecutive loss in the 2024-25 NCAA season and made them 2-5 in the Big 10 conference.

While few expected Iowa to make it to their third straight NCAA National Championship game this season after losing superstars Caitlin Clark and Kate Martin to the WNBA, the 9-0 start that first-year head coach Jan Jensen began this season with had fans feeling hopeful they could still compete with college basketball's best teams.

Alas, this current losing streak puts that into question. And Jensen alluded to a lack of veteran leadership on her team when speaking with the media on January 9.

"I've got to develop a little bit of senior leadership or upperclassmen leadership. I think that is what we're missing," Jensen said. "I'm not interested in looking back or thinking about the future. I just really want to focus on the fact that I've got to keep finding the right combination."

Jensen expanded on this sentiment after her team's January 16 loss against Nebraska.

"Aaliyah Guyton," Jensen responded when asked which player is filling the leadership void that Clark and Martin left last season, per The Hawkeye Report's YouTube channel.

"She does a heck of a job. There's a reason she was in at the end of the last game and there's a reason she was playing tonight," Jensen added of Guyton. "She just has a really great perspective about it, and I just love that. So she's doing a really nice job... She moves on... I think Aaliyah is wise beyond her years with that."

Aaliyah Guyton is a true freshman, and is averaging 13 minutes played per game.

While it's surprising to hear that a freshman is doing the best job of replacing the leadership void from the team's past superstars, perhaps this bodes well for Iowa's future.