Lucy Olsen's Heartfelt Message After Iowa NCAA Tournament Elimination Says It All
The Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball team's 2024-25 season came to a close on March 24 after they were defeated by the Oklahoma Sooners in the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
While the Hawkeyes ultimately fell short of appearing in a third consecutive NCAA National Championship game, it would have been nearly impossible for them to reach those heights again without generational talent Caitlin Clark on their roster.
However, the Hawkeyes still had an extremely successful season. And that success was largely owed to star guard Lucy Olsen, who immediately became the team's leading scorer after transferring from Villanova, where she spent the first three seasons of her NCAA career.
Olsen finished Iowa's defeat on Monday with a team-high 20 points to go along with 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 blocks. And when speaking with the media after the game, she sent a powerful message about her season spent at Iowa.
"I'm super grateful that I got the chance to play here," Olsen said. "There were a lot of ups and downs, but super proud of the team and everybody became my family.
"Got the best coach here," Olsen added while looking over at Hawkeyes head coach Jan Jensen, who was seated to her right. "So yeah, I'm just super grateful for it, and wouldn't want it any other way. It just wasn't supposed to happen tonight."
Olsen and Jensen then shared powerful words before Olsen left the podium so Jensen could begin her portion of the press conference.
The end always hits hardest for the seniors -- Lucy Olsen shared a reflection of her time at Iowa
— Blake Hornstein (@BlakeHornTV) March 24, 2025
"Everyone became my family, got the best coach here... wouldn't want it any other way" pic.twitter.com/q2WEVEuXMM
There's no doubt that Olsen left a lasting mark on this Hawkeyes program, despite just the one season spent there.
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Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.