MADISON, Wis. – The Iowa women’s basketball team closed the regular season with a delayed rout of Wisconsin, 81-52, Sunday afternoon at the Kohl Center in Madison. The Hawkeyes turned a back-and-forth first half into a laugher of a second as they outscored the Badgers, 26-9, in the third quarter and enter the postseason on a six-game win streak.
Second-year center Ava Heiden led the Hawkeyes with 16 points and 14 rebounds for her ninth career double-double. She posted double-figures in all 17 of Iowa’s conference games. Guard Chit-Chat Wright broke out of a shooting slump with 14 points on 5-of-9 from the field, followed by Taylor Stremlow with 12 points and a team-high nine assists.
Wisconsin entered the contest with an 11-4 mark at home, including ranked wins against Michigan State and Nebraska. Guard Destiny Howell led the Badgers with 23 points.
“They’re building a good program here. I wish them all the best of luck,” Stremlow said postgame. “But we knew we had to lock in on a couple of things, really utilize the ball screen off the transition.”
Iowa broke the game open with a 13-2 run to start the third quarter. Back in her home state, Taylor Stremlow sparked the offensive storm with a steal that turned into a three from Kylie Feuerbach. Then, an offensive rebound from Journey Houston resulted in a triple from Wright to give Iowa its first double-digit lead of the afternoon.
That margin grew to as 31 as the Hawkeyes finished the regular season 24-5 overall and 15-3 in the Big Ten, the 11th time in program history with at least 15 conference wins.
The Hawkeyes shot 53 percent from the floor and 9-of-20 from long range, an effective balancing act that saw five different players score in double-digits. First-year center Layla Hays impressed inside with 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting while second-year guard Teagan Mallegni delivered a season-high 10 points on 2-of-4 shooting from beyond the arc.
“That’s what we can hopefully expect to see in the future,” Iowa head coach Jan Jensen said of Hays, who finished in double figures for the first time since Dec. 13. “So I was really happy, because she’s had some games where she’s just so down and she doesn’t need to be.”
The second-half scoring outburst contrasted with a competitive first 20 minutes that saw five lead changes as Wisconsin controlled the glass to keep pace despite a poor shooting performance.
The Wisconsin defense appeared content to give Iowa’s forwards open looks from midrange early on. Heiden knocked down a pair of elbow jumpers, and Houston added another in the first quarter as the Hawkeyes played even with the Badgers in the opening frame. Heiden connected on four of her first five shots and finished the day 8-of-11. She’s shooting 73 percent from the floor over Iowa’s last five games.
Iowa posted three blocks to hold Wisconsin to 33.3 percent shooting from the floor in the first quarter, but only led by three after freshman Nikki Kerstein drilled a buzzer-beater from 52 feet out.
The Badgers limited Heiden in the second quarter, holding her to just two points in nine minutes compared to her first frame of 10 points in seven minutes in the first. Meanwhile, Howell tallied eight points, with five coming from the free-throw line. She scored 17 points in the half as the Badgers trailed, 33-29, at the break.
Iowa shot 50 percent from the floor compared to Wisconsin’s 28, but the Badgers’ seven second-chance points on nine offensive rebounds kept the home team in the contest at halftime. Jensen, unhappy with the Hawkeyes’ boxing out, left a clear message at halftime to flip the script.
“Just having energy, some pride, and a chip on our shoulder,” Stremlow said. “Because they were outrebounding us.”
Wright’s 14 points snapped a cold streak over her last three games. Over that frame, the Georgia Tech transfer scored a combined 14 points on 3-of-20 shooting. Jensen said the second-year has dealt with leg cramps throughout the season and that Wright is working with the nutrition staff to find a solution, but across 36 minutes of action on Sunday, Wright felt more confident.
“I came in with a better mindset,” Wright said. “Even though I missed one, I’m going to make the next one. I had a couple air balls, but I just knew I had to keep shooting to see one fall.”
Injury Updates
Iowa starting forward Hannah Stuelke was ruled out Sunday morning with an upper-body injury for just her second missed game of the season. Houston started in her stead and scored eight points.
Jensen said Stuelke did not practice since Iowa’s last game against Illinois, where the senior suffered an arm injury diving for a loose ball in the first quarter and left for the locker room. Stuelke returned later that contest, but after the adrenaline wore off postgame and swelling appeared the next morning, she and the coaching staff recognized the need for caution.
“I think we can get her back, but I’m not sure when,” Jensen said.
Up Next
With the win, Iowa clinched the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. The Hawkeyes will play Friday, March 6, at 5:30 p.m. Central Time at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Iowa has won four of the last seven conference tournaments, including three consecutive from 2022 to 2024.
“I feel pretty good about it,” Jensen said. “Sometimes you wish you could keep on going, but for rest, you can take a couple of days off, and we’ll work on some things that we need to get better at.”
Jensen had yet to see Iowa’s side of the bracket, but the Hawkeyes will face either Wisconsin, Illinois, or Michigan State. The 15th-seeded Badgers and 10th-seeded Illini square off on March 4. The winner plays the seventh-seeded Spartans before taking on the Hawkeyes.