Moving on after rostering one of, if not the greatest, women’s basketball players of all-time is no easy task, no matter who you are or what your program does. But the Iowa Hawkeyes have done it as masterfully as anyone could have scripted.
There were unknowns if Iowa could become a mainstay on the national stage of women’s basketball with the transition from Lisa Bluder to Jan Jensen. After making the NCAA Tournament last year, she has Iowa out to an 18-2 start and a 9-0 mark in Big Ten play.
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The Hawkeyes’ hot start and ability to reconstruct a roster have them as one of CBS Sports’ biggest surprises of the women’s college basketball season.
Iowa
When Caitlin Clark left for the WNBA and Lisa Bluder retired in 2024, the Hawkeyes didn’t exactly fall off the map, but they were not at the same level they were when they reached back-to-back national championships. Last year, Iowa, led by Lucy Olsen, was unranked for the latter half of the season and lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Since the Hawkeyes only had Olsen for one year, they had to readjust in the offseason.
The result? Iowa is up to No. 8 in the AP Poll and riding an eight-game winning streak that includes four victories over ranked opponents. Let’s not forget this is only Jan Jensen’s second year at the helm of the program. The Hawkeyes’ 91-70 victory over Ohio State on Sunday was their third consecutive regular season win against a ranked opponent, which is a first in program history. Their 9-0 start in the Big Ten is also their best league start since the 1995-96 season, when the Hawkeyes began conference play 12-0.
A key part of this success has been sophomore Ava Heiden, who entered the starting lineup this season and became the leader of the team. Her growth has been so impressive that she earned a vote for Most Improved Player in the CBS Sports midseason awards. – Isabel Gonzalez, CBS Sports
The production for Iowa is coming from a collection of players this year. Ava Heiden averages 16.4 points per game, while Hannah Stuelke pours in 14.3 points per game, and Chazadi Wright gives Iowa 13.1 points per game.
Things definitely see the intensity turn up a few notches for the Hawkeyes with upcoming road games against USC and UCLA dotting the next week.
Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes, and opinions. Follow Riley on X: @rileydonald7
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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Iowa women’s basketball one of CBS Sports’ most pleasant surprises
