After a 104-63 exhibition win over Ashland, Iowa women’s basketball head coach Jan Jensen spoke on the Hawkeyes‘ play and their areas of strength.
While everyone had their opportunity to see the court in the team’s lone preseason matchup, Ava Heiden, Emely Rodriguez, and Chazadi “Chit-Chat” Wright were the three most impressive players on the court.
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Those three underclassmen combined for 43 points on 19-of-27 from the field, 4-of-6 from 3-point range, and 1-of-1 from the free throw line, to go along with 13 rebounds, 8 assists, and 2 steals. Heiden would also record a double-double with her 14 points and 12 boards.
In her postgame availability on Thursday, Jensen first spoke about the point guard position, which she is splitting time between Rodriguez and Wright. The second-year head coach mentioned both unique playing styles, but also emphasized that the program has yet to decide which of the two can play a “true point guard” role.
“I mean, they’re were a couple pieces I thought we really needed to have, without a true point guard. Addie Deal always played a combo guard, but we didn’t have a true point,” Jensen said.
“Chit-Chat is just, she’s got a lot of fun about her, and I think we’re just scratching the surface with what we can see her do… I think she’s shifty, and she can give us some on-ball defensive presence that we need to have.”
Iowa guard Emely Rodriguez (21) shoots the ball Oct. 30, 2025 during an exhibition game against the Ashland Eagles at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa.
“Emely Rodriguez is a bucket getter, and, you know, the patience you have to have with Emely is just learning a new system. Emily’s story is really unique. She was in the DR (Domican Republic) about three years ago, and then comes in to Florida, plays a year of high school ball, gets recruited, goes to Central Florida, and now she’s here. A completely different environment, especially a winner here in about a month.”
“It’s about her learning to really play within a system, she’s never had to do that, so we’ve been seeing great strides of the last, I’d say, probably a week. So if that keeps coming along, I think that they really will be really valuable moving forward for sure, and they’re going to be great kids.”
When asked how she evaluates a blowout win in an exhibition game like Thursday’s against Division II Ashland, Jensen said it’s often tricky to gauge when the level of competition isn’t necessarily on par with what the Hawkeyes will see in the regular season.
“I think these games… I actually channel my memory of a Drake exhibition when I was a young coach. You know, sometimes it’s just a little tough sledding, right? You can’t get into rhythm, you give up points you shouldn’t give up, and then you remember that it’s an exhibition game… So I think for me, the barometer was that a lot of the things that I was hoping to see out of certain people, I started to see, and we can start with Chi-Chat and Emely with that.
“I think, you know, Ava (Heiden) did great, I love her, believe me, they’re not 6-foot-4 going against either, so you can be excited, but it’s also you see what’s coming down the pike, and let’s just start within our conference with UCLA. So I did see a lot of pieces that I liked that were better, but, I mean I saw a lot of things that I didn’t like either, especially defensively.”
When asked about how she felt about seeing the five newcomers experience the passionate environment that is Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Jensen praised the fans’ excitement and commitment to the program for giving the newer players a taste of what is to come this season.
“Yeah, I think that’s the greatest thing when you have this. You know, they were so proud when they were committed and they knew all the history, but then when you get here and you get to meet the fans and you get to see that they are actually coming for exhibitions… I mean, this is just amazing that this many fans come and we just have a lot of gratitude about it, but it’s fun to hear them talking about it…”
With the exhibition portion of the year done, Iowa will now get set for its regular-season opener on Nov. 3 against Southern, which will begin at 6:30 p.m. CT from Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The broadcast of that game will stream on Big Ten Plus (subscription required).
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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Jan Jensen dissects Iowa women’s basketball exhibition win
