The Iowa women’s basketball team will make the trip east to West Lafayette, Indiana, with eyes wide open. Head coach Jan Jensen stuck with this term as the Hawkeyes look to push their win streak to three when they face off against the underachieving Boilermakers on Thursday night.
Jensen has repeatedly touted the parity of the Big Ten this season and asserted Purdue isn’t a walkover. The Boilermakers rank 14th in the conference with a 4-10 mark in league play. Losers of four of its last five, Purdue boasts head-turning results, including an overtime victory over a ranked Washington squad in January.
With No. 6 Michigan heading to Iowa City this weekend, Purdue may feel like a trap game, but Jensen views the contest as an opportunity.
“When you can keep the joy and the excitement and the competition just in that game,” Jensen said. “That can lessen the pressure and let you take advantage of what’s fun about competition.”
Thursday’s competition will feature size in the frontcourt. The Boilermakers feature 6-foot-4 Lana McCarthy, 6-3 Kendall Puryear, and 6-7 Avery Gordon. McCarthy and Puryear are sophomores, each averaging seven points per game, while Gordon averages 5.5 points as a first-year.
“It’s a different way you have to score against them,” Jensen said. “They take up a lot of space.”
Purdue features three double-digit scorers in the backcourt in guards Tara Daye, Kiki Smith, and Madison Layden-Zay. The Boilermakers rank 14th in the conference in points per game and opponent points per game. An NCAA Tournament appearance is unlikely for the Boilermakers, but an upset win still creates memories.
“They’re playing to get higher, they want to have a great moment,” Jensen said. “They want to knock off a top 10 team, so we got to be able to handle that.”
Iowa and Purdue play Thursday, Feb. 18, at 6 p.m. on Big Ten Plus.
Jensen Honors
Off to a 20-5 start this season, Jensen’s efforts earned national recognition. The head coach was named to the 2026 Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year Watch List, per a release Wednesday afternoon.
The Hawkeyes defeated six ranked teams and tied for sixth in the nation with six Quad 1 victories. Jensen holds 43 wins over her first two seasons, just two shy of Angie Lee for the most victories by an Iowa coach in their first two seasons.
“I don’t think you get into it for its individual things,” Jensen said when asked about the award. “That’s very nice, but there’s so much runway left, my goodness, and there’s so many good coaches in our league.”