No matter how talented the squad, Jan Jensen had her work cut out for her at the beginning of the 2024-25 season. For the first time in four years, Iowa was playing without the stardom of Caitlin Clark and head coach Lisa Bluder had retired.

But Jensen was ready to step into the HC’s shoes with a new-ish team and her hard work has paid off. So has LSU’s, who is playing without Angel Reese.

In the latest AP Rankings released today, the University of Iowa has leaped up 5 spots at No. 17 and has an 8-0 record this season (Caitlin Clark who?) LSU’s Lady Tigers minus Reese are also doing well this season and have moved up two spots, from 7th to 5th, with Aneesah Morrow leading the way.

Good news for South Carolina as well, the reigning champions who went undefeated last year but were handed a defeat last week and moved down to the 4th spot. They’re up one to #3 but UCLA and UConn still block their way to the top. It was the loss to the Bruins on Nov. 24 that began their landslide from the no. 1 spot and included a loss to Iowa State after that as well.

But one team that surprisingly has dropped heavily is Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish, previously No. 3, have dropped seven spots to No. 10 after losing back-to-back games for the first time since Feb. 28-March 4 2021. They play Texas next on Thursday and Syracuse on Sunday and might have another chance to pull up through the ranks by next Monday.

Nevertheless, what many are excited to see is the Iowa Hawkeyes’ ascent; they may have more competition than ever in the current top 3 and have more trouble reaching the Final Four like they did the last two consecutive years with Caitlin Clark’s help. Jensen, who previously stated that the Hawkeyes would be fine without their star attraction, recently opened up about the playing culture that No. 22 brought to the team.

Caitlin Clark was good…and expected the same from her teammates, reveals Jan Jensen

Greatness comes at a cost, most famous names would tell you. For Caitlin Clark, it was perfecting her game and making that shot in practice over and over again. But she did not make up a team of five alone and expected her teammates to work just as hard as her. If you didn’t? Well, the ball would be passed less to you, as Jan Jensen recently revealed.

In a November 26 interview with Chris Mailander, the Iowa HC said, “You had to get everybody else understanding how rare she was. We had to work really hard on the chemistry and culture piece… when Caitlin came in, she had such a high expectation…So for Caitlin, if she didn’t think you were in the gym as much as you should be, then we’re… not gonna pass you the ball.”

Comparing the reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year to NBA greats like Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan and how they uplifted their teammates to perform well too, Jensen also talked about how CC’s expectations might have sometimes caused hurt feelings. But at the end of the day, the goal was clear – win with as much hard work as you can.