Lucy Olsen scored 15 of her 28 points in the fourth quarter as Iowa stunned No. 4 USC 76-69 in a Big Ten Conference women’s basketball game on Sunday before a boisterous home crowd of 14,998 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa.
Iowa started fast with a big early lead and finished strong behind Olsen to hand USC its first loss since Nov. 23.
USC (19-2, 9-1) trailed 18-1 to start the game before sophomore JuJu Watkins rallied the Trojans in the second quarter. Her steal at halfcourt and layup to beat the buzzer gave USC a 29-28 lead at halftime.
Olsen, who had 23 points in the second half, made sure the Trojans were never able to pull away from Iowa (15-7, 5-6), on a day that celebrated the retirement of Caitlin Clark’s No. 22 jersey in a post-game ceremony.
USC made 1 of 14 shots from the field and trailed 18-4 after the first quarter. For the game, the Trojans shot 35.4 percent from the field and 29.2 percent on 3-pointers.
Iowa, which made 21 of 28 free throws and outrebounded the Trojans 27-22, turned 18 USC turnovers into 17 points.
Watkins had 27 points, Kiki Iriafen had 13 points and eight rebounds, and Kennedy Smith had 11 points and four steals before fouling out late for USC.
Sydne Affolter had 11 points, nine rebounds and five steals for Iowa, which outscored USC 25-19 in the fourth quater.
More to come on this story.
