By JOHN BOHNENKAMP
Lucy Olsen made an impact in her one season on Iowa’s women’s basketball team.
Now the 5-foot-10 guard will get a chance to play in the WNBA. Olsen was selected by the Washington Mystics in the second round of Monday’s WNBA Draft.
Olsen, who went to the Mystics with the 23rd overall pick, was a unanimous first-team All-Big Ten selection and was named to the conference’s all-tournament team honoree. She eclipsed 2,000 career points, 500 career rebounds and 500 career assists during her senior season with the Hawkeyes, her lone year in the program after transferring from Villanova. Olsen became the ninth consecutive Hawkeye to earn first-team All-Big Ten honors since 2017.
“I am beyond thrilled for Lucy,” Iowa coach Jan Jensen said in a statement Monday night. “She is a relentless worker and was a joy to coach. Being a part of her journey and seeing her attain her goal of being drafted is simply incredible. Lucy deserves this moment, and I am so happy for her. Washington is getting a great one!”
Olsen helped lead the Hawkeyes to the NCAA Tournament, where they lost in the second round to Oklahoma.
Olsen is the sixth Hawkeye to be drafted into the WNBA since 2019, following Kathleen Doyle, Megan Gustafson, Monika Czinano, Caitlin Clark and Kate Martin. Twenty Hawkeyes have been drafted or signed in the WNBA since the league originated in 1997.
Photo: Iowa’s Lucy Olsen (left) was selected in the second round of the WNBA Draft on Monday. (Jeffrey Brown/Icon Sportswire)
