Iowa
Iowa Hawkeyes upset USC 76-69, ahead of Clark jersey retirement

IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG/AP) – The Iowa Women’s basketball team came out victorious in its game against No. 4 USC on Sunday, winning 76-69.
Lucy Olsen scored 28 points and Addison O’Grady had 13 as Iowa topped No. 4 USC 76-69 on Sunday, snapping the Trojans’ 15-game winning streak.
The win came on a day when Iowa retired Caitlin Clark’s jersey number 22 in a postgame ceremony, and the Hawkeyes delivered a win to add to the honor.
Iowa (15-7, 5-6 Big Ten) opened the game with an 18-1 run, fought off a 17-1 response by the Trojans in the second quarter, then matched USC the rest of the way.
The Trojans’ biggest lead was 47-41 in the third quarter, and they were up 50-45 with 2:09 left in the period before the Hawkeyes scored six consecutive points, capped by Olsen’s jumper right before the buzzer.
Olsen and O’Grady took control of the game in the second half. They had 23 of Iowa’s 25 fourth-quarter points to secure the win.
Sydney Affolter had 11 points and nine rebounds, and Hannah Stuelke added 10 points for the Hawkeyes.
JuJu Watkins led USC (19-2, 9-1) with 27 points. Kiki Iriafen had 13 points, and Kennedy Smith had 11.
Takeaways:
USC: The Trojans were staggered by Iowa’s early start, yet had a second-quarter response. Watkins got her points, but was 8 of 22 from the field, 1 of 7 in 3-pointers.
Iowa: The Hawkeyes were at their best to start the game, feeding off the emotion of a sellout crowd of 14,998. With Clark in attendance, the game felt like some of her best moments over the last couple of the seasons.
Key moment:
USC had gotten to within 63-60 with five minutes to play, but O’Grady and Olsen answered with three consecutive field goals to put the Hawkeyes in command. Olsen later converted on a 3-point play — O’Grady had the assist on her layup — and Iowa had a 72-62 lead.
Key stat:
USC missed 20 of its first 22 shots. Watkins had the Trojans’ lone field goal in the first quarter.
Up next:
Iowa: At Minnesota on Thursday.
The game came ahead of the University of Iowa’s ceremony retiring basketball star Caitlin Clark’s No. 22 jersey inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
“I’m forever proud to be a Hawkeye and Iowa holds a special place in my heart that is bigger than just basketball,” Clark said. “It means the world to me to receive this honor and to celebrate it with my family, friends and alumni. It will be a great feeling to look up in the rafters and see my jersey alongside those that I’ve admired for so long.”
Copyright 2025 KCRG. All rights reserved.

Iowa
36 years after an Iowa mother vanished, her boyfriend at the time is arrested

The former boyfriend of an Iowa woman who vanished 36 years ago has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in her disappearance, officials said Tuesday.
Robert Davis, who is now 61 and lives in Council Bluffs, Iowa, was arrested Monday in the case of Barbara Lenz, 31, who was last seen on May 6, 1989, the Iowa Department of Justice said in a news release. Davis, who was Lenz’ boyfriend at the time, reported dropping her off at her apartment in Woodbine, Iowa, that day. Lenz was then expected to visit her former boyfriend and the father of her 3-year-old child in Omaha, Nebraska, but she didn’t show up, according to the release.
Lenz’s family contacted the Woodbine Police Department on May 17. Police and family members entered Lenz’s apartment and found her pets had not been cared for “in some time,” according to a criminal complaint. Her personal effects, including her purse and wallet, were in the home. There were no signs of a struggle.
Police determined that Davis was the last person to have seen Lenz alive, according to the complaint. He told investigators Lenz had called him from Omaha to say she was with her daughter, but police determined she never arrived there.
During the course of the investigation, police found that Lenz had told several people she feared Davis, the complaint said. Shortly before her disappearance, Lenz told at least two people that Davis said he would kill her if she left him, according to the complaint.
Lenz was also allegedly assaulted by Davis “on several known occasions” during their two-year relationship, according to the complaint, including incidents during which she was allegedly strangled until she fell unconscious. There was also an incident where Davis allegedly hit Lenz’s daughter at a restaurant in front of Lenz and other witnesses. Davis admitted these incidents to police, the complaint said.
Davis told police he did not like Lenz going to Nebraska to see her daughter and ex-boyfriend, the complaint said, and several fights and assaults by Davis allegedly followed her visits. Davis said they had argued before her May 6 visit, according to the complaint. There were witnesses to the argument. One witness said Davis injured Lenz by slashing her across the cheek with a sharp object. Another witness reported seeing Lenz and Davis leaving the apartment complex together.
One witness told investigators that Davis’ brother showed them a spot in a rural area where he and Davis had buried something wrapped in plastic. The complaint did not say if the area was excavated or what was wrapped in the plastic.
Other witnesses told investigators that Davis told them they would “end up like Barbara” after arguments. The statements were made long after Lenz’s disappearance, the complaint said.
Lenz’s body has never been found. Investigators “pursued numerous leads and searches” over the years, to no avail, the Iowa Department of Justice said. In July 2024, the Attorney General’s office launched an Iowa Cold Case Unit to investigate unsolved crimes. The unit investigated Lenz’s case and “brought fresh eyes and a focused team to dig through information, meet with witnesses, and loosen up leads.”
That led investigators to Davis. The complaint alleges that because of Davis’ behavior and history with Lenz, investigators believe he murdered Lenz “with malice aforethought, wilfully, deliberately, and with premeditation.”
An attorney was not listed for Davis.
“Something I have waited for my whole life”
The case will be prosecuted in Harrison County, the Iowa Department of Justice said. Davis is being held without bond in the Harrison County Jail, CBS News affiliate KCCI reported.
Lenz’s daughter, Lindsy Baumgart, told KCCI that Davis’ arrest is “surreal” and that she is “grateful” for the investigation.
“I never thought this day would come,” she told KCCI. “It’s honestly something that I have waited for my whole life.”
Baumgart told KCCI she hopes investigators can find her mother’s remains.
“Justice for me would be bringing my mama home,” she said.
Iowa
Obituary for Gerald "Gerry" J. Clemen at Dyersville

Iowa
Confetti-strewn memories fuel No. 12 Iowa State as it seeks to repeat at the Big 12 Tournament

Iowa State Cyclones guard Tamin Lipsey (3) steals the ball from Arizona Wildcats guard Jaden Bradley (0) during the second half in the Big-12 men’s basketball showdown at Hilton Coliseum on Saturday March 1, 2025 in Ames, Iowa. © Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The cascade of colored paper caught Tamin Lipsey in mid-celebration — a Big 12 Tournament champ, reveling in the ebullient energy pulsating through “Hilton South.”
Thousands of Iowa State fans roared last March at the T-Mobile Center, boisterously commemorating the Cyclones’ championship-cementing 69-41 win over top-ranked Houston. And Lipsey savored that confetti-strewn moment, letting his deep emotions linger before finally dissolving into preparation for the bigger tournament that followed.
“I’d say at each game we had more and more fans,” said Lipsey, who hopes to help No. 12 ISU reprise that crowning performance beginning with Wednesday’s 11:30 a.m. second-round Big 12 Tournament game against Cincinnati. “It just made it so much easier. We do have an advantage playing down here. It’s like Hilton South, like they say, and it definitely impacts how we play.”
So does senior guard Keshon Gilbert, who sat out three of the Cyclones’ (23-8) last five games of the regular season because of a muscle strain. The potent and disruptive St. Louis native returned to practice this week, however, and should be good to go on Wednesday and beyond.
“(He) felt great,” ISU head coach T.J. Otzelberger said of Gilbert, who leads his team in assists (4.6 per game) and ranks second in scoring (13.8 points). “I think when you’re returning from any injury there (are) things you have to work through. But he had a great mindset, mentality, focus, and had a great practice.”
It’s unlikely that Gilbert — who’s averaging a team-high 32.4 minutes per game — will be 100 percent health during the Big 12 or the NCAA Tournament, but his wide-ranging abilities on both ends of the floor greatly enhance his team’s hopes of repeating as conference tourney champs.
“It’s been amazing having Keshon back,” said Lipsey, who joined Gilbert and forward Milan Momcilovic on last season’s Big 12 All-Tournament team. “Just bringing that energy, the positivity to the group — and just having everyone on the court, it always makes (us) feel good.”
The fifth-seeded Cyclones (23-8) seek to cut down the nets at the T-Mobile Center two years in a row for the first time since 2014 and 2015, but will have to win four game in four days to accomplish that feat. That planned but arduous journey starts against a 13th-seeded Bearcats team (18-14) that played ISU tough about a month ago at Hilton Coliseum before falling, 81-70.
“It still comes down to us focusing on us being tough with the basketball, attacking the paint and the rim, being really aggressive offensively,” said Otzelberger, whose team ranks among the top-nine in defensive efficiency, forced turnovers percentage and steals percentage, according to KenPom. “Certainly the pressure we put on our opponents and turnover we can generate to go in transition — and then the rebounding battle is always going to be important.”
ISU’s 28-point win over the shorthanded Cougars in last year’s championship game was the most lopsided triumph over a No. 1-ranked team in 56 years. The Cyclones don’t expect the stars to align remotely like that again and enter this week’s tournament as more of a darkhorse contender instead of a secondary favorite. Still, to be at full strength — a rarity over the tumultuous past six weeks — bolsters their already-high confidence that with several thousand cardinal-and-gold clad fans’ help, the confetti can rain down again.
“I feel great and it’s fun,” said ISU senior guard Curtis Jones, who’s averaging a team-best 17 points per game. “This is the best time of the year. Even watching these (other) games in the hotel — these conference tournaments, the mid-majors and things like that, it’s just great games. So I’m enjoying it and looking forward to playing in it.”
As for Lipsey, an Ames native and lifelong Cyclone fan, he’s taking nothing for granted. Last season, a shoulder injury that required offseason surgery hampered him in March as his team surged to the Sweet 16. This season, it’s a fractured thumb, but it’s getting better every day.
“This is the best time to feel great,” ISU’s all-timer steals leader said. “This is the time that really matters. It’s win or go home from now on.”
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