Iowa stunned No. 4 USC, 76-69, on the day of Caitlin Clark’s No. 22 jersey retirement. The Hawkeyes weren’t perfect, but their defense caused issues for the Trojans from the beginning.
Lucy Olsen led the way with 28 points. Her biggest moment came with 4:30 remaining as she picked up a steal and made a layup that injected more energy into Carver-Hawkeye Arena. This gave Iowa (15-7, 5-6 Big Ten) a 67-60 advantage and forced USC (19-2, 5-1 Big Ten) to call a timeout.
“It’s our moment,” Iowa coach Jan Jensen said in the huddle. “We are going to take it.”
And take it they did. Jensen’s team pulled off a huge signature win in her first season at the helm of the program. In the process, the Hawkeyes snapped USC’s 15-game winning streak and handed Lindsay Gottlieb’s team its first loss in the Big Ten.
USC entered Sunday’s game right behind UCLA for tops in the Big Ten, but the Trojans’ loss muddies the picture. Ohio State now has a chance to pass USC in the Big Ten standings with a victory in their matchup next week, as they both have one conference loss this season. That highly anticipated matchup is slated for 9 p.m. ET Saturday in Los Angeles.
USC couldn’t overcome frigid start
The Hawkeyes held the Trojans to just one point over the game’s first nine minutes. JuJu Watkins finally hit USC’s first field goal, a 3-pointer, with 26 seconds remaining in the opening quarter. By then, Iowa had already reached 18 points while USC started 1 of 14.
Things looked a little brighter for USC in the second quarter, however, as Watkins reached 15 points, including a buzzer-beater, to give her team a 29-28 advantage at the break.
Iowa defense comes up big
It seemed USC was stealing the momentum as the Trojans found a six-point lead in the third quarter. However, this didn’t last because Iowa’s defense was persistent.
The Hawkeyes knew how to change up the defense and didn’t let Watkins get too comfortable. She only made three field goals in the second half, but managed to end the day with 27 points.
USC shot 35.4% from the field, marking the team’s worst shooting percentage this season. Its second worse was 35.8% in the loss to Notre Dame in November.
The Trojans are averaging 15.1 turnovers per game this season, and they gave up 17 points off of 18 turnovers against Iowa.
Caitlin Clark’s jersey retirement
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark returned to Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Sunday to see her No. 22 Iowa jersey officially retired by the program. Clark, a two-time national Player of the Year, finished her college basketball career as the all-time Division I leading scorer with a total of 3,951 points.
As expected, the arena was sold out to watch the postgame ceremony.
When she arrived to Iowa, Clark famously told then-coach Lisa Bluder her goal was to take Iowa all the way to the Final Four. The former Iowa star still remembers that conversation as the beginning of her legendary career.
“There wasn’t many people when I first signed here, when I said I wanted to take this place to the Final Four, they kind of laughed at me,” Clark said. “Coach Bluder was literally the only person that agreed with me. Thank God, or else I probably wouldn’t be here. I’m just very lucky and fortunate.”
Bluder was in attendance, as was Clark’s family, some of her former Iowa teammates and Fever coach Stephanie White, among others.
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