After seldom seeing the floor for the Washington Mystics in her first WNBA season, former Iowa women’s basketball star Lucy Olsen announced exciting offseason plans Tuesday evening.
Olsen, who was selected with the No. 23 pick in the 2025 WNBA draft, has served as a depth player and occasionally contributes scoring outbursts. That included Olsen’s 19-point performance against the Minnesota Lynx on July 3.
Olsen made her offseason plans official Tuesday evening when it was announced the former Hawkeye would play for the Townsville Fire in Australia’s Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL).
Given the financial incentives and opportunities to continue competing, it is commonplace for many WNBA players to play overseas or in another domestic league, such as Unrivaled, during the offseason.
As Olsen joins the WNBL, she will have an excellent opportunity to develop and showcase her skills while contributing to a Fire squad that made it to the league championship last season.
“We’re really excited to add Lucy to our team. She’s a skilled, versatile guard who can score at all three levels and has excellent vision to create for others.
“What really stood out to me was her character. Everyone I spoke to had nothing but great things to say about her work ethic and the kind of teammate she is. Lucy ticks a lot of boxes for us on and off the floor, and I know she will come in ready to work hard and contribute to our team’s success,” Fire coach Shannan Seebobm said of Olsen.
Given the new offseason opportunity, Olsen fully embraced the challenge by stating Townsville’s love for the game of basketball perfectly matches her own.
“The Fire organization has a tremendous reputation here in the U.S. and hearing how beautiful the Townsville area is has me more than excited to be joining this upcoming season! I love to play basketball and it sounds like Townsville loves basketball, too – a perfect match! Let’s go get the Championship,” Olsen said in her statement.
With fellow Mystics teammate Jade Melbourne also signed as a member of the University of Canberra (UC) Capitals, Olsen playfully joked the two may have become “Frenemies” heading into the WNBL’s 2025-26 season.
So far in 19 games played for the Mystics, Olsen is averaging 3.7 points and 1.1 rebounds per game on 43.9% shooting from the floor, 40.0% from 3-point territory and 90.9% from the free-throw line in 10:30 of playing time per contest.
Townsville opens its 2025-26 season on Oct. 19 against the Bendigo Spirit. Ironically, the Fire’s second game, scheduled on Oct. 25, will be in Canberra’s AIS Arena against Melbourne and the UC Capitals.
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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Former Iowa women’s basketball star Lucy Olsen signs with WNBL’s Townsville Fire
Reporting by Scout Springgate, Hawkeyes Wire / Hawkeyes Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
