AP Top 25: The post-Caitlin Clark era Iowa Hawkeyes are getting hot and showing growth at the right time

Iowa is 9-0 in conference play for the first time since 1996 — six years before Clark was even born — and defeated three consecutive AP Top 25 teams for the first time in program history. They’re 5-2 against AP opponents, taking losses to in-state rival and then-No. 10 Iowa State, 74-69, and No. 1 UConn, 90-64. It stands as the third-closest margin of UConn’s season, a note that says more about the Huskies’ domination than Iowa’s flaws.

There aren’t many of those at this point in the season, particularly as Iowa is understanding it can be “pretty good” and “doesn’t need to be tentative,” second-year head coach Jan Jensen said following the 85-78 win at Maryland. Iowa blew a 17-point lead in the final three minutes, but locked in to win in overtime.

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As Jensen put it after the win over Ohio State, they want to be “clear and clean with our offensive decisions.” And often, they are. The Hawkeyes consistently pass up good looks for great ones, averaging 21.3 assists per game to return to the top three in Division I after averaging 18.1 (10th) a season ago. They’re hitting 49.4% of their field goals (seventh), another jump back to prominence, and are 36.8% from 3-point range (17th).

Multiple players are solid 3-point shooting threats, led by sophomore point guard Chit Chat Wright shooting 48.2%. The Georgia Tech transfer is finding her leadership groove on both ends for a group that taps deeper into its defense under Jensen.

“When I see Chit Chat start to chat chat, that’s really growth,” Jensen said post-game on the broadcast after defeating Ohio State on Sunday.

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But it’s their work in the paint that wears down opponents, as it did to the Buckeyes. The Hawkeyes outscored them 42-14 and won the boards 48-30. Jensen wasn’t happy with their turnovers, but it was the second-fewest that Ohio State’s press has forced all season.

Though the margins were much closer, Iowa also won those categories against Michigan State and Maryland. They won paint points in wins over then-No. 20 Nebraska and then-No. 7 Baylor. Not so in the losses to Iowa State, led by center and national leading scorer Audi Crooks, and UConn, featuring National Player of the Year contender Sarah Strong.

UCLA will challenge them there. Senior 6-foot-7 center Lauren Betts is a defensive cheat code patrolling the paint (2.3 blocks per game). It will be the most challenging matchup for Iowa senior Hannah Stuelke, a 6-2 forward playing back in her natural position, and sophomore Ava Heiden, a 6-4 center who did not play in last year’s 67-65 loss to the Bruins. Their high-low action gives opponents fits, and they’ll likely be without senior guard Taylor McCabe after she sustained a non-contact injury on Sunday.

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Heiden emerged for Iowa in a Big Ten tournament run that ended in the quarterfinals for the No. 11 seed. She leads this Iowa roster, averaging 16.4 points and shooting 63.5% (fifth in DI), as the latest coaching product of Jensen, the “post whisperer.” It’s a legacy that includes Monika Czinano, Clark’s pick-and-roll partner on the 2023 Final Four team, and Megan Gustafson, the 2019 Naismith Player of the Year and 2025 WNBA champion with the Las Vegas Aces.

That component spans both eras of Iowa basketball. And it’s why they’re dangerous as they barrel toward March.

Performer of the week: Aliyah Chavez, Oklahoma

Every player has it. It’s that massive, show-out performance in a circled game on the schedule that introduces them to a national audience. For Chavez, a leading contender in the freshman of the year race, it came in crunch time of a 94-82 overtime loss to then-No. 2 ranked South Carolina on Thursday night.