The calendar has turned to March, and that means the regular season finale is here for the Iowa Women’s Basketball team. They end the season with a good matchup to have right before the tournament: what should be a tune-up game against the Wisconsin Badgers. A win today would be Iowa’s 24th of the season, which would have Jan Jensen matching second highest regular season win totals in the history of the program…in her second season at the helm. This has been a remarkable season in so many ways for this
young team. Add in the fact that they lost senior guard Taylor McCabe to an ACL tear and lost 3 straight games as a result, the Hawkeyes haven’t lost since, thanks to some major progression from sophomore Taylor Stremlow and freshman Journey Houston in particular.
Speaking of Houston, she will get the second start of her Hawkeye career this afternoon, as senior Hannah Stuelke will sit out of the game to recover the elbow that she almost certainly hyperextended Thursday night in the gritty win against Illinois. Stuelke could probably play if the team really needed her, but with Wisconsin sitting near the bottom of the Big Ten standings, it’s another good opportunity for players like Addie Deal, Callie Levin, and Teagan Mallegni to get some extra minutes as a result of being down a starter. Look for freshman Layla Hays to also get some big minutes as Ava Heiden continues to try and get fully recovered from illness to be at 100% for this week’s business trip to Indy.
Last time the Hawkeyes were without Stuelke, it resulted in a win against Purdue where the Boilermakers were able to claw back into the game from a 20+ point deficit when the Hawkeyes were messing around with lineups, so we might see that again today as well, but hopefully the end result will be the same. It should be a fun time regardless – let’s close out the regular season strong! I’ll be around in the comments and recapping as well – be kind in the comments and GO HAWKS!
How to watch:
Date: March 1, 2026
Time: 2 p.m. CST
Matchup: No. 9 Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Wisconsin Badgers
Location: Kohl Center — Madison, WI
TV: B1G+ (ugh, but it’s for the last time this season! Don’t forget to cancel your subscription!)
