Iowa’s women’s basketball team secured an 83-74 win over Purdue on Thursday night at Mackey Arena. The victory improves Iowa’s record to 21-5 overall and 12-3 in the Big Ten Conference, while Purdue drops to 12-13 and 4-11 in conference play.
Sophomores Ava Heiden and Taylor Stremlow led the Hawkeyes. Stremlow scored a career-high 19 points—all in the first half—making seven of ten shots and adding eight assists. Heiden recorded her seventh career double-double with 21 points on ten of twelve shooting, along with thirteen rebounds.
In the opening quarter, three players combined for Iowa’s first seventeen points. Stremlow led the way with ten points and one assist as Iowa closed out the period on a ten-point run, leading 29-14 after forcing four turnovers from Purdue.
Senior Kylie Feuerbach began the second quarter by making consecutive three-pointers. Five of Iowa’s eight field goals in this quarter were from beyond the arc, with five different players contributing to scoring. The Hawkeyes collected ten rebounds during this stretch and went into halftime ahead 51-32.
After halftime, Heiden dominated inside, making all five of her shot attempts for ten third-quarter points. Iowa forced two more turnovers and grabbed eight additional rebounds as Purdue cut into their lead but trailed by fourteen heading into the fourth.
Freshman Journey Houston added eight fourth-quarter points for a total of sixteen, tying her career high. Iowa forced thirteen turnovers overall and held Purdue to just over forty-two percent shooting from the field.
Head coach Jan Jensen started two freshmen and two sophomores for the first time in her tenure at Iowa. This marked Iowa’s youngest starting lineup since March 2021 against UConn.
The Hawkeyes have now won their last ten meetings against Purdue and lead the all-time series by one game at forty-one wins to forty for Purdue. Over their past two seasons, they have posted a twenty-three-and-two record when scoring eighty or more points.
Jensen is now two wins away from setting a new program record for victories by an Iowa women’s basketball coach in their first two seasons.
Next up, No. 13 Iowa will host No. 6 Michigan on Sunday, February 22 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena for Senior Day; tipoff is scheduled for 11 a.m., with national coverage on FOX and local broadcast via the Hawkeye Radio Network.
