‘No bad blood’ between Lauren Jensen and Iowa Hawkeyes

IOWA CITY — No hard feelings. No bad blood. No red flags.

That’s the consensus from all parties involved on the matter of Lauren Jensen’s return to Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“We love Lauren,” Iowa’s Kate Martin said. “No hard feelings there. And we're really happy for her because she's been so successful at Creighton.”

Jensen played her freshman season for the Hawkeyes, then entered the transfer portal last April. Within a couple of weeks, she signed with the Bluejays. And she has blossomed in Omaha.

“When I decided to enter the transfer portal, I had some places in mind,” Jensen said Saturday. “I knew Creighton would be a great fit. The process went smoothly, and now I’ve gone full circle in almost a year.”

A 5-foot-10 sophomore guard, Jensen is the second-leading scorer for the Bluejays (21-9), who face the eighth-ranked Hawkeyes (24-7) in an NCAA women’s basketball second-round battle at noon Sunday (ABC).

Jensen is averaging 12.3 points per game and ranked ninth nationally in 3-point shooting at 44.4 percent.

“She's had a tremendous year,” Iowa’s Caitlin Clark said. “It's been fun getting to follow her success. Very happy to see that.”

In her lone season at Iowa, Jensen played in 18 games, averaging 7 minutes and 1.3 points per game.

Jensen and Megan Meyer both entered the transfer portal shortly after Kylie Feuerbach transferred from Iowa State to Iowa.

There were many guards, and not so many minutes.

Meyer landed at Drake and was the Missouri Valley Conference newcomer of the year.

“Being back in Carver, it’s fun for me,” Jensen said. “There is no bad blood, no red flags.”

Jensen figures to be one of several Bluejays that will rotate defensively on Clark, the nation’s leader in scoring and assists.

“Caitlin is a great player,” Jensen said. “She can do so much, shoot from a very deep range. We’re going to try to be fundamentally sound.”

Creighton Coach Jim Flanery said, “We’re going to rotate people on (Clark). They need to be really locked in to give us a good 3-4 minutes at a time.

“It’s going to be an up-and-down game. This isn’t a knock on Iowa, but both teams are better on offense than on defense. (Iowa Coach) Lisa (Bluder) would agree with me on this, neither of us are an elite defensive team.”

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com