ByAP
IOWA CITY — IOWA CITY, Iowa — — Lucy Olsen scored 28 points and Addison O’Grady had 13 as Iowa topped No. 4 USC 76-69 on Sunday, snapping the Trojans’ 15-game winning streak.
The win came on a day when Iowa retired Caitlin Clark’s jersey number 22 in a postgame ceremony, and the Hawkeyes delivered a win to add to the honor.
Iowa (15-7, 5-6 Big Ten) opened the game with an 18-1 run, fought off a 17-1 response by the Trojans in the second quarter, then matched USC the rest of the way.
The Trojans’ biggest lead was 47-41 in the third quarter, and they were up 50-45 with 2:09 left in the period before the Hawkeyes scored six consecutive points, capped by Olsen’s jumper right before the buzzer.
Olsen and O’Grady took control of the game in the second half. They had 23 of Iowa’s 25 fourth-quarter points to secure the win.
Sydney Affolter had 11 points and nine rebounds, and Hannah Stuelke added 10 points for the Hawkeyes.
JuJu Watkins led USC (19-2, 9-1) with 27 points. Kiki Iriafen had 13 points, and Kennedy Smith had 11.
Takeaways
USC: The Trojans were staggered by Iowa’s early start, yet had a second-quarter response. Watkins got her points, but was 8 of 22 from the field, 1 of 7 in 3-pointers.
Iowa: The Hawkeyes were at their best to start the game, feeding off the emotion of a sellout crowd of 14,998. With Clark in attendance, the game felt like some of her best moments over the last couple of the seasons.
Key moment
USC had gotten to within 63-60 with five minutes to play, but O’Grady and Olsen answered with three consecutive field goals to put the Hawkeyes in command. Olsen later converted on a 3-point play — O’Grady had the assist on her layup — and Iowa had a 72-62 lead.
Key stat
USC missed 20 of its first 22 shots. Watkins had the Trojans’ lone field goal in the first quarter.
Up next
USC: At Wisconsin on Wednesday.
Iowa: At Minnesota on Thursday.
Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen
Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen
