By Dallas Jones

IOWA CITY, Iowa – After just over four months and 28 games, we have reached the 2024-25 regular season finale for Jan Jensen and the Hawkeye women. The 19-9 Iowa Hawkeyes came in as 21.5 point favorites over the 13-15 Wisconsin Badgers, the Badgers weren’t worried about that as they tested Iowa for much of today’s game.

After the 81-66 win for the Hawkeyes, it is officially time for the best time of the year, March Madness. See how the Hawkeyes brought home their 20th win of the season here.

First Quarter: All four of the Hawkeyes first made baskets came by assist as the Hawkeyes jumped out to a quick 10-2 lead in the first three minutes of the game. Wisconsin fought back as the Hawkeyes made their first couple substitutions of the game, going on a 6-0 run and cutting the lead to just two.

Lucy Olsen got Senior Day started off on the right note, putting up nine points on 4-7 shooting in the first quarter alone.

Both teams made their money close to the basket as they each put up 14 points in the paint during the quarter and shot over 60% from the field. Wisconsin took their first lead of the game at the 1:06 mark on a Carter McCray and-one, which made it a 21-20 Badger lead. They would take that lead into the break.

Second Quarter: The second quarter started off slow as both teams went scoreless for the first few minutes, until Hannah Stuelke made a layup with the foul on an Aaliyah Guyton assist.

Stuelke made another layup at the 5:22 mark, the only person to score in the quarter to that point. She would score or assist on 14 of Iowa’s 16 in the quarter.

Wisconsin would not go down lightly as five different Badgers scored in the quarter, including a three from Tess Myers at the buzzer to tie the game at the break. Myers tied Carter McCray for the team lead with nine points in the half.

Third Quarter: Jan Jensen’s halftime speech must’ve been great because the Hawkeyes were locked in from the moment the second half started. They hit their first three attempts from beyond the arc and forced a Wisconsin timeout less than two minutes into the half. They led 45-36 at that point in the game, their largest lead of the game.

Eight different Hawkeyes would score in the quarter for Iowa, helping them maintain a five to seven point lead for most of the quarter. The Hawkeyes also did not turn the ball over in the entire quarter.

Freshman Ava Heiden saw the court for the first time in a while, as she has taken a back seat to the veterans Hannah Stuelke and Addi O’Grady as the season has progressed. She was fouled and knocked down two free throws in her first possession on the court.

Fourth Quarter: Lucy Olsen scored the first six points in the final quarter as she hit the 20 point mark once again this season.

Hannah Stuelke continued to dominate on the paint both scoring and rebounding, grabbing five of her then 15 rebounds in the first few minutes of the quarter. She made a layup immediately after her 15th rebound of the game, putting her at 21 points for the night. Iowa never let Wisconsin within grasp in the fourth as Lucy Olsen and Hannah Stuelke finished the game strong for a comfortbale Hawkeye win.

With the conclusions of the other Big Ten games Sunday, the Iowa Hawkeyes have secured the 11th seed in the Big Ten tournament this coming weekend. They will begin the tournament Wednesday night, another matchup with these Wisconsin Badgers.

The Hawkeyes are the three time defending tournament champs and will have a gauntlet to complete if they want to make it four. Hear from the team postgame here: