Iowa City Today

Iowa Hawkeyes women’s basketball will host Drake University at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City on Thursday, November 13. The game is set to tip off at 7:30 p.m. Central Time and will be broadcast on the Hawkeye Radio Network as well as streamed live on BTN. Rob Brooks and Kathryn Reynolds will provide radio commentary, while Mike Hall and Lisa Bluder will call the action for television.

The Hawkeyes enter this matchup with several notable achievements. They became the first Big Ten program to compete in consecutive National Championships in 2023 and 2024. Last season, Iowa tied Purdue (1998-99) and Maryland (2014-15) for most wins in Big Ten history with 34 victories. Over the past six seasons, Iowa has consistently ranked among the top ten nationally in attendance.

Iowa has won four of the last seven Big Ten Tournament titles and has maintained a streak of nine straight seasons with at least 20 wins—the second-longest run in program history. Since November 2016, the team holds a home record of 129-20 in Iowa City and a conference record of 65-19 over the past four years.

Since 2019, six Hawkeyes have been drafted into the WNBA: Kathleen Doyle, Megan Gustafson, Monika Czinano, Caitlin Clark, Kate Martin, and Lucy Olsen. The program has also produced at least one First Team All-Big Ten honoree each year since 2017.

Jan Jensen took over as head coach on May 13, 2024, becoming only the sixth person to hold that position in program history. In her first season, Jensen recorded more than 20 wins—making her just the third coach to achieve this milestone—and now holds the second-most wins by a head coach in their inaugural season at Iowa with a total of 23 victories. Her current record stands at 25-11 overall and 10-8 in conference play.

The Hawkeyes have participated in postseason tournaments for 23 out of the last 25 seasons, including appearances in both NCAA and WNIT events. This year’s roster features nine freshmen and sophomores—the highest number since the 2012-13 season.

Historically, Iowa leads its series against Drake with a record of 31-25 and has won seven straight meetings against them as well as winning 21 out of their last 22 encounters.

Drake comes into Thursday’s game following an early-season loss to Creighton but saw strong performances from Abbie Aalsma—who earned Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week—and Anna Becker—named MVC Freshman of the Week—for their recent games against Eastern Illinois and Creighton. Coach Allison Pohlman is noted for being the only leader in Drake’s history to secure at least twenty wins during each of her first four years guiding the team.

In their most recent outing against Evansville, Iowa set new records by defeating their opponent by a score of 119-43—the highest point total ever scored by an Iowa women’s basketball team at home or within program history—and establishing their largest margin of victory (76 points). Ava Heiden registered her second consecutive double-double with fourteen points and ten rebounds; Chit-Chat Wright achieved her first career double-double with sixteen points—including four three-pointers—and ten assists; Hannah Stuelke contributed thirteen points along with six rebounds; Layla Hays posted her first twenty-point performance as a Hawkeye. The team surpassed one hundred points for only the thirty-eighth time ever—and for Jan Jensen's first time as head coach—and exceeded thirty assists for just the thirteenth time since records began tracking that statistic in 2009.