Iowa women’s basketball returned to action at Carver-Hawkeye Arena and the crowd only waited 66 seconds until the Hawkeyes took a permanent lead. After Division II Ashland University scored the opening basket, Iowa regained the advantage on a Hannah Stuelke free throw – the first of her team-best 23 points – and cruised to a 104-63 rout Thursday night. 

Trailing Stuelke in the scoring department were second-years Emely Rodriguez and Ava Heiden with 17 and 14 points, respectively. Five Hawkeyes finished in double figures as the team shot 56 percent from the floor and 33.3 percent from three-point range. 

For Iowa head coach Jan Jensen, an exhibition transports her back to her days on Drake’s coaching staff, where the Bulldogs faced off against top teams and looked for an upset. Now in charge of a Big Ten program, Jensen’s expectations must deviate from victory, which is oftentimes a given.  

“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 and you got nine new people,” she said postgame. “For me, the barometer was that a lot of the things I was hoping to see out of certain people, I started to see.” 

Here are three observations from Iowa’s exhibition performance: 

1. Chit-Chat Wright a natural at point guard 

At the team’s media day on Oct. 12, Jensen noted Wright was encouraged to play through mistakes, as learning the point guard position for a new offense takes time. Yet fans might not need to wait long for Wright’s comfortability to arrive. The Georgia Tech transfer thrived in her first game at Carver, scoring 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, highlighted by an and-one layup on the right side.

After finishing second on Georgia Tech in assists last season, Wright’s passing prowess flashed with four assists. 

She set the tone early, executing a perfect pick-and-roll at the top of the key with Heiden for the Hawkeyes’ first bucket of the game. Wright then completed a great give-and-go with Stuelke for the point guard’s first basket. Despite her 5-foot-4 stature, Wright contributed on the defensive end, recording a steal and converting the ensuing layup on the other end.  

“She’s got a lot of fun about her,” Jensen said of Wright. “I think we’re just scratching the surface of what we can see her do. She’s just fun, right? She’s shifty and she can give us some on-ball defensive presence.” 

2. Frontcourt shines 

Stuelke committed a turnover on Iowa’s opening possession, but the miscue was her only lowlight in what was a productive day for her and the rest of the Hawkeye frontcourt. Stuelke, Heiden, and first-year Layla Hays combined for 47 points and 28 rebounds. 

Initially, Jensen thought her post players were positioned too far from the paint and demanded them to be more physical, especially considering Iowa’s clear size advantage. She said she would offer a coffee to the first Hawkeye who committed an offensive foul. After Heiden did so, Stuelke reminded her head coach of her promise. 

“Ava might have forgot it,” Jensen said with a laugh. “But I was just trying to instill, like, ‘You need to dominate.’” 

Whether it be post-moves, screens, or pick-and-rolls, the frontcourt seemed comfortable in Iowa’s up-tempo offense. 

“I think us posts have been working a lot on the tiny things,” Heiden said. “The things that are routine that we want to get down to make sure have mastered … I think we all performed really well, had each other’s backs, and there wasn’t a drop-off when people got subbed in.” 

3. Newcomers make a statement 

First-year Addie Deal entered as Iowa’s first player off the bench and was greeted with a roaring ovation from the crowd. The five-star recruit was whistled for two travels early but those would be her only turnovers of the night. Deal scored seven points on 2-of-4 shooting and finished with a flourish, draining a pull-up triple late in the fourth quarter to ignite a thinning crowd. 

Deal contributed outside of scoring, grabbing four boards and a team-high five assists. 

“She forced it a little bit offensively. She probably could’ve had maybe eight assists, right?” Jensen said. “And I think that’s just a freshman learning how it’s going to roll. But she’s a beautiful passer.” 

Rodriguez proved she can drive the paint with ease, attacking the basket from both sides with success. The second-year from the Dominican Republic shot 7-of-10 from the field and 3-of-3 from deep. A transfer from UCF, Rodriguez said she hasn’t played in front of as large a crowd as Carver. 

“For me, that makes me want to play and do my best in front of so many people,” Rodriguez said. “So I was excited, maybe a little nervous at first, but then I got going, and it was really a good game for us.” 

Injury Updates 

Iowa second-year guard Teagan Mallegni exited the game in the first half with what appeared to be a leg injury. She was helped to the locker room and later returned to the bench but did not see any more action. 

“She just hit her ankle, really tweaked it in a weird way,” Jensen said. “She was going to try to play, but she’s having a hard time putting pressure on it, so kind of a freak thing.” 

Jensen said she wasn’t sure of a timeline for the injury. Wright also left in the second half holding her lower left leg, but Jensen said the pain was just a bad cramp.

Up Next 

Iowa officially opens the regular season with a home matchup against Southern University on Monday, Nov. 3 at 6:30 p.m. Big Ten Plus will have the TV broadcast. 

The Jaguars started last season with eight straight losses, but once conference play began, Southern topped the Southwestern Athletic Conference and earned a berth to the NCAA Tournament as 16 seed, where it defeated UC San Diego in the First Four before falling to UCLA.