Lucy Olsen has never been one to shy away from a challenge.
It wasn’t the case during her record-setting career at Spring-Ford. Nor was it the case during her first three years at Villanova where she grew into the nation’s No. 3-leading scorer this past winter.
Olsen, the 5-9 point guard from Collegeville, announced her decision to transfer to Iowa from Villanova on Wednesday, committing to the national finalist Hawkeyes.
She’ll be taking on her biggest challenge yet: replacing two-time national player of the year Caitlin Clark, who was the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA Draft on Monday.
New beginnings ✍️ @IowaWBB #Hawkeyes #letsgo 💛🖤 pic.twitter.com/CmlhzmCYGd
— Lucy Olsen (@LucyOlsenbball) April 17, 2024
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Olsen entered the NCAA transfer portal last Tuesday and within 60 seconds she received a call from Iowa women’s basketball head coach Lisa Bluder.
“I think that just gave me the confidence that they really believe in me,” Olsen told The Mercury in her first interview upon choosing Iowa. “The whole coaching staff, we got on a Zoom with them right away and we just visited (on Tuesday) and they’re just the nicest people ever. You can tell they care about you.
“They’re so confident in me. I think that that’s why I’m not overwhelmed because I know that they’ve got my back.”
Olsen, who has one year of eligibility remaining, was named first-team All-Big East and earned the league’s Most Improved Player Award. She also registered team highs in steals (65) and assists (134) and pulled down 4.8 rebounds per game for the Wildcats. Olsen averaged 43.8 percent shooting and 29.4 percent from 3-point range.
Olsen played a complementary role to star Maddie Siegrist in her sophomore season when Villanova finished 30-7 and reached the NCAA tournament Sweet 16.
With Siegrist off to the WNBA’s Dallas Wings, Olsen carried the load this past winter and was the lone double-digit scorer for a Villanova team that finished 22-13 and advanced to the WBIT finals, where it lost to Illinois.
Olsen spent her time at Villanova as the hometown hero playing just 20 miles from home and has no regrets about that experience.
“Villanova was definitely awesome for me over the three years. I couldn’t have been happier that I ended up there. It was the perfect place for me for those three years. It’s so sad to be leaving but my teammates are all so supportive. The VIllanova community was incredible.
“We made it to March Madness my first two years then the final of the WBIT, we’ve had so much success and it’s been so much fun. It was definitely a hard choice to leave.”
Olsen has been a scoring point guard since her high school days at Spring-Ford where she set the program scoring record and finished third all-time in Pioneer Athletic Conference history (1,699 points).
Her scoring was never higher than as a junior when she was an Associated Press honorable-mention All-American.
Still, despite finishing No. 3 in scoring in Division I, she viewed entering the transfer portal as taking a leap of faith in pursuit of raising her stock for the future.
“By the end of the season I was like, ‘Wow, I was third in the nation, that’s crazy,’” she said. “But even then I’m like, ‘I hope someone wants me in the portal.’ And then Lisa Bluder called. I thought ‘Whoa, Iowa wants me? This is crazy.’ I couldn’t be happier that they reached out.”
Olsen doesn’t have visions on replicating Clark, the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer who holds record in single-season and career 3-pointers and was three-time NCAA scoring and assists leader during her storied career.
But the vacancy in the Hawkeyes’ backcourt called to Olsen.
“Caitlin Clark is gone and Iowa needs a point guard. It kind of just worked out perfectly,” Olsen said. “Obviously Caitlin Clark was amazing. There’s not going to be another Caitlin Clark. I’m not trying to go in and start shooting logo shots. But they need a point guard and this is a great opportunity. It just fell into place.
“Big crowds, bigger school, big arena, big games every night, good competition, everything fell into place.”
The Hawkeyes will look different next fall besides Olsen and Clark. Four primary starters have moved on, including guard Kate Martin (13.1 points per game), who was a WNBA second-round pick.
With a single year of college basketball remaining, Olsen has an eye toward the future and seeing two players drafted was a difference-maker for the Iowa City school.
“They just put two players in the WNBA and that’s definitely a part of my goal, to become a pro, go to the WNBA so they’ve had success in that and they’re a successful program,” Olsen said.
Iowa, which was 34-5, has some quality players returning beginning with second-team All-Big Ten forward Hannah Stuelke (14.0 points per game) and All-Big Ten Tournament team guard Sydney Affolter (8.4).
Olsen also received interest from LSU and Maryland.
Villanova will also look different next season with six players who entered the transfer portal: Olsen, Christina Dalce, Zanai Jones, Megan Olbrys, Kylie Swider and Abby Jegede.
Olsen left her Iowa visit and was traveling to Springfield, Mass., to try out for the USA Basketball 3×3 women’s team that will compete in the Paris Olympics. The 17-player tryouts are being held from April 17-20.
Training camp will feature 2020 Olympic 3×3 gold medalist Allisha Gray and all four members of the gold-medal-winning 2023 FIBA 3×3 Women’s World Cup Team, which includes Cameron Brink, Cierra Burdick, Linnae Harper and Hailey Van Lith.
Olsen, in her first year with USA Basketball, won a gold medal at the 2023 FIBA 3×3 U23 Nations League as a member of USA U21. In addition to her Nations League experience, she also competed at the 2023 FIBA 3×3 Women’s Series stop in Edmonton, placing sixth with USA U24.
The USA 3×3 experience served her well entering last season and will continue to pay off.
“Because the game is so fast and a lot of it is reading the defense and learning the 3-on-3 game, it helped me anticipate and have the next step,” Olsen said. “I think my mind got faster.”
