TAMPA, FLA. -- With the WNBA starting a new season, Washington Mystics rookie guard Lucy Olsen is ready to be a star in her new role. Having played multiple roles in college, Olsen hopes her game will help bring success to the Mystics this year. With the start of her WNBA career mere days away, she will be relying on her experience as she prepares for the next level.

Olsen began her collegiate journey as a pass-first point guard with the Villanova Wildcats, then became a scorer before transferring to the Iowa Hawkeyes. As a young player, she played with teammates such as current Dallas Wings forward Maddy Siegrist (SEE-grist), making it easier for her to distribute the ball. After the College All-Star Game, she described the different opportunities she had at Villanova, which helped grow her game.

“My first (two) years at Villanova, I was a pass-first point guard,” Olsen said. " All I had to do was pass to Maddy (Siegrist) because she’s so good. (During my) Junior year, there were a lot of opportunities for me to grow my scoring game and be the main offensive player.”

Olsen used the departure of her teammates, like Siegrist, to grow different parts of her game, particularly her scoring. In her junior season, she scored 23.3 points per game, finishing third in the country behind USC Trojans sophomore Juju Watkins and current Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark. Having emerged as the top player for the Wildcats, Olsen chose to play her last year of college in a different environment and a new role. She transferred to Iowa to grow other areas of her game while embracing her scoring abilities.

“When I went to Iowa, we had so many scorers that that’s not exactly what I needed to do,” Olsen explained. “I needed to learn how to score when I got the opportunity and be more of an all-around defender and rebounder.”

Although her time at Iowa was short, she used it to work on other areas in her game as she prepared for the next level. Her arrival at the Hawkeyes was in a transition period for the program, losing Clark to the WNBA and head coach Lisa Bluder (BLUE-der) to retirement. While Olsen wasn’t a replacement plan for Iowa, she dealt with the pressure of filling Clark’s shoes by having fun with her teammates during the season.

“I kept telling myself that I’m not Caitlin Clark and no one’s going to be her,” she said. “There was a lot of new (pieces) with Iowa, so I tried to play my game and have fun with the team this year.”

As Olsen left her mark on the Hawkeyes in her last collegiate year, she did so by playing her game and remembering the joy it brought her. Now with Washington, she will have to adapt once again to a different role in the league. With training camp underway, Mystics head coach Sydney Johnson spoke to Christy Winters-Scott of Monumental Sports Network about Olsen and what she brings to the table.

“(Olsen’s) work ethic is on the high end,” Johnson said during Washington's Media Day. “She puts her time in, which is what’s needed at this level. She’s also shown an ability to learn fast. Those two skills bode well for a long career.”

Johnson expressed the necessity of Olsen’s work ethic and her learning ability, noting how she can build a long career early with those two skills. As she begins her WNBA career, she hopes her hard work will pay off with a spot on the final roster. Olsen joins Clark and Golden State Valkyries guard Kate Martin in the league, two Iowa players who came before her. She spoke about the advice both players gave her that would serve her well as she starts her journey as a pro.

“(They said to) keep working hard,” Olsen said. “You never know what your path is going to be, but if you want it, and you keep working for it, you’ll get the opportunity.”