Outside of the Herculean performance by freshman Journey Houston against USC, the Hawkeyes did not show up against USC.
Houston was Iowa's best player all night, notching a career-high 16 points, while adding eight rebounds and two assists in 26 minutes off the bench.
Everyone looked a step slow on defense, and the offense struggled to find any consistency in the 81-69 loss in Southern California on Thursday night.
After the emotional highs and lows the program experienced during and after the big win over Ohio State, Head Coach Jan Jensen had some interesting comments regarding why Iowa couldn't get the job done against a previously 11-9 (3-6 Big Ten) USC.
Jensen called Iowa's loss a 'perfect storm' without Taylor McCabe
After being injured early in Iowa's win over Ohio State last weekend, we learned that senior guard Taylor McCabe will miss the rest of the season after tearing her ACL.
According to Jensen, that made all the difference on Thursday night.
Jan Jensen outlined the unseen impact of losing senior Taylor McCabe after the 81-69 loss to USC: “They got us at a really good time. The importance of a senior leader, that’s been to two Final Fours, that’s been a part of championships, that is one of our best defenders … she…
— Chad Leistikow🆑 (@ChadLeistikow) January 30, 2026
According to a postgame interview that was posted by the Des Moines Register's Chad Leistikow, Jensen said repeatedly that Iowa struggled without McCabe's leadership.
Jensen stated that the importance of a missing senior leader who has been to two Final Fours, has been part of championship teams, and is one of their best defenders cannot be overstated.
She followed that statement by saying that McCabe "calms the waters when things like this happen," and that's what they were missing on Thursday.
While McCabe is undoubtedly a big part of the squad, constantly referring to that as the reason they lost is a bad take by Jensen.
Yes, McCabe has the leadership experience and her absence was felt, but the team still has seniors Kylie Feuerbach and Hannah Stuelke, who have equal experience and were also a part of those Final Four teams.
Not only that, but Jensen herself was a part of the squad during those historic runs, and with 27 years of experience in the program, she could have been a steadying force as well.
McCabe is one player, and while she is important to the program, blaming the poor road performance on one missing player seems like a cop-out by Jensen.