Iowa women’s basketball star Lucy Olsen revealed what it was like practicing with former Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark. Clark was present when her No. 22 jersey was retired during Iowa’s game against USC earlier this month.
Lucy Olsen on Practicing With Caitlin Clark
In an interview with basketball analyst Rachel Annamarie DeMita, which was posted on YouTube on Monday, Olsen said that seeing Clark’s towels all over the training room felt “weird.”
“I mean, obviously, Caitlin practiced with us, I think, that day or the day before. So, that was cool but yeah, the towels just made the gym look so different, like she knew it was getting retired.
“It was just, yeah, it was weird and like the whole thing was just so different than the rest of the season that I feel like we were all just like, all right, Caitlin’s getting our jersey retired. We’re playing USC. We haven’t really won a big game yet. We kind of need this one, but let’s just see what happens,” the Iowa senior said.
Lucy Olsen Reacts to Controversial Late Foul Call in Iowa Loss vs. UCLA
Olsen drew a controversial late foul during Iowa’s (18-9, 8-8 Big Ten) 67-65 loss to No. 3 UCLA (25-1, 14-1). The foul happened with 3.8 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, which the Bruins converted in a free throw line to take the win in a closely tied game.
Lucy Olsen on her game-changing foul call with three seconds left: They told me I wasn’t in legal guarding position.
Her full answer here: pic.twitter.com/PcXjl0dfxe
— David Eickholt (@DavidEickholt) February 23, 2025
Olsen revealed that she was bumped on a screen near the top of the three-point arc when she was attempting to block UCLA guard Elina Aarnisalo. As a result, she fell on the floor and made contact with Aarnisalo, which was called a foul.
The call was deemed controversial after a video play showed UCLA’s Angela Dugalic tripping Olsen into Aarnisalo. However, Olsen revealed that the officials told her she was not in a legal guarding position on the play, which was why the foul was called.
KEEP READING: Top 10 Women’s College Basketball Players in 2025
Olsen admitted that the foul call was frustrating, but it was part of the game, and she had to learn from it. Despite the loss, Iowa currently holds the 11th seed in the 18-team Big Ten. Only the top 15 teams will qualify for the Big Ten Tournament.
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