The Iowa women’s basketball team earned six individual honors at the Big Ten postseason honors presentation on Tuesday afternoon. Second-year center Ava Heiden earned a spot on the all-conference first team while senior Hannah Stuelke received a spot on the second team. Other Hawkeye nominees include Addie Deal on the all-freshman team, Kylie Feuerbach on the all-defensive squad, and Chit-Chat Wright on the third team.
Heiden led the Hawkeyes in scoring with 17.6 points per game, which ranks 11th in the Big Ten. Her 65.1 field goal percentage ranks second in the conference among players with at least 20 games played. She finished in double-figure scoring in all 17 of Iowa’s conference games. These numbers are a meteoric rise from last season, when Heiden came off the bench and averaged less than 10 minutes per game.
Hailing from Sherwood, Oregon, Heiden flashed potential in last season’s postseason run, scoring in double digits in three of Iowa’s last four games, and her breakout this season earned recognition from coaches and media. She joins UCLA’s Lauren Betts and Kiki Rice, USC’s Jazzy Davidson, Ohio State’s Jaloni Cambridge, Illinois’ Berry Wallace, Washington’s Sayvia Sellers, and Michigan’s Olivia Olson as unanimous honorees from league coaches. With Heiden’s nomination, Iowa has produced a first-team All-Big Ten member for 10 consecutive seasons.
Stuelke led Iowa in rebounding with a career-high 8.7 boards per game, ranking second in the Big Ten in the category. She ranked second on the team with 13.9 points per game and became the seventh Hawkeye to record at least 1,500 points and 850 rebounds in their career.
Wright, a transfer from Georgia Tech, received a third-team nomination from coaches and an honorable mention nod from media. She leads the Big Ten and ranks fifth in Division I with a 46.2 percent mark from beyond the arc. She finished first on the team with 4.7 assists per game.
Feuerbach, a sixth-year shooting guard, earned the all-defensive nod from league coaches and media. She led the Hawkeyes in steals last season and this year finished with 29 steals and 11 blocks, including a key rejection to help Iowa beat Miami back in November.
Deal took home Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors in consecutive weeks this season and finished her debut regular season averaging 5.4 points and 1.2 rebounds per game, earning a nod on the All-Freshman team from coaches.
Senior Taylor McCabe took home the Sportsmanship Award for the Hawkeyes.
Iowa earned the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament and a bye to the quarterfinals. Iowa will play either Michigan State, Illinois, or Wisconsin on Friday, March 6, at 5:30 p.m. Central Time at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Big Ten Network will broadcast the contest.