NCAAW: Iowa kicks off post-Caitlin Clark era with 91-73 win over NIU

The Iowa Hawkeyes began the post-Caitlin Clark era with a 91-73 decisive win over the visiting Northern Illinois Huskies. The win also marked the first under the leadership of new head coach Jan Jensen.

After a sluggish first quarter and 15-14 lead, the Hawkeyes surged in the second quarter as they outscored the Huskies 30-20 thanks to uptempo play and sharp shooting. From there, they were on their way to victory. Even though they could have easily defeated the Huskies by 30 points, the signs were there of a team in search of an identity, with a lot of newcomers plus a few notable returners. Jensen said after the game:

We are really young. There are just six of them that are brand new to our system and eight returners, but really only seven returners and the key cog of our wheel is Syd Affolter. Syd steadies a lot of waters. When I am in the game and I’m thinking, “Wow we need to stretch it, it needs to be bigger.” Then, when I put my hat of improvement on, it is probably going to look like that at times.

Affolter was out due to her recovery from a knee injury, and her return date remains unknown. Among the returners, Kylie Feuerbach, Taylor McCabe, Hannah Stuelke and Addison O’Grady put up great numbers. Feuerbach finished with 14 points, nine rebounds, six steals and five assists. She made a career-high five 3-pointers. McCabe finished with 11 points, including three 3-pointers. Stuelke came back after an apparent injury at the end of the first quarter to notch 11 points and six rebounds. O’Grady shot 83 percent from the field as she scored 12 points and grabbed three rebounds. Freshman Teagan Mallegni finished with 14 points. The Hawkeyes converted on 70 percent of their field goals and 50 percent on 3-pointers.

The win was the first in an Iowa uniform for former Villianova standout Lucy Olsen. She finished with a game-high 19 points, seven assists and three rebounds. The energy from a big crowd was something she fed off of, a contrast from her days at Villanova. After the game, she noted:

The energy you can definitely feel it. It’s loud in there. I don’t think I’ll get used to running out of the tunnel. I’m looking around like, “Wow, there’s a lot of people here.” I’m trying to take it all in, the season goes so fast.

Iowa (1-0) will take on Virginia Tech (1-0) on Sunday, Nov. 10 at 5:30 p.m. ET.