Jan Jensen brought in three new portal transfers and a 5-star recruit this season to breathe new life into the offense, and it paid dividends to the tune of 124 points on Thursday evening in an exhibition game against Maryville at Carver Hawkeye Arena.
New portal transfer Dani Carnegie lead the way with 30 points on 11 of 14 shooting. Last season Dani was at Geogia where she started all 32 games, averaged 18.8 points per game against SEC opponents, and was a unanimous First-Team All-SEC selection.
Prior to Georgia, Dani was at Georgia Tech where she played alongside Chit-Chat Wright in the backcourt. The band’s back together and already making some beautiful music.
McKenna Woliczko, a five-star recruit from Archbishop Mitty in California, showed her quickness and athletic versatility while playing the power forward position. In her first ever start and game at Carver, she recorded a double-double, scoring 14 points and tied for a team high 10 rebounds.
Other scorers recording double digits were Ava Heiden with 19, Jocelyn Faison with 14, Chit-Chat Wright with 13 and Amari Whiting with 10. Jocelyn is a portal transfer from Georgia, while Amari is a transfer from Oklahoma State.
At point guard Chit-Chat Wright lead the team with 7 assists and was the floor general distributing the ball to multiple players that can score from a variety of places and ways.
Journey Houston acted as the backup to McKenna Woliczko at the power forward position. She tied McKenna for most rebounds at 10, while also contributing 8 points. It has been reported that Journey has put in the work during the offseason, and she physically looked like a different player. At one point she went airborne for a rebound I will confess I had to do a triple take to confirm it was indeed Journey versus one of the new portal transfers.
The Hawkeyes shot 64% from the field, 38% from 3-point range, and 76% from the free-throw line. Iowa limited Maryville to 32% field goal shooting. Iowa outrebounded Maryville, 52-28, and dominated points in the paint, 58-14.
Lineups will fluctuate as the season progresses, but for this first look at the 2026 edition of Iowa women’s basketball, the starters and backups may shape up like the below:
- 1 (point guard): Chit-Chat Wright / backup Dani Carnegie
- 2 (shooting guard): Dani Carnegie / backup Taylor Stremlow
- 3 (small forward/guard): Amari Whiting / backup Jocelyn Faison
- 4 (power forward): McKenna Woliczko / backup Journey Houston
- 5 (center): Ava Heiden / backup Layla Hays
The Hawks returned to the 4-out 1-in offense they used to run back in the Caitlin Clark days now that they have more outside shooting weapons. It allowed Iowa to spread the floor as evidenced by having six different players that ended the night with double figure scoring while pouring in 124 points.
Besides a new season with new players and a new offensive scheme, there is also new look for both the hardwood floor and refreshed uniforms. The new uniforms had black stripes down the sides, with gold stripes around the waist band and bottom of the shorts. Semi retro and modern all rolled up into one.
The Iowa women officially open their season on Monday, November 2 at Carver Hawkeye Arena, with a 7:00 PM CT tipoff against Towson. The Towson Tigers are a Division I women’s college basketball team representing Towson University in Towson, Maryland. They compete in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA).
