By hawkeyesports.com

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The University of Iowa women’s basketball team is ranked No. 10 in the Associated Press preseason Top 25 poll, released Tuesday.

The ranking marks Iowa’s first preseason top-10 appearance since the 2023-24 season, when the Hawkeyes opened at No. 3 nationally. Iowa began the 2025-26 campaign ranked No. 21, climbed as high as No. 7 and finished No. 16 in the final AP poll.

The Big Ten led all conferences with nine teams in the preseason Top 25, including No. 3 USC, No. 5 Michigan, No. 10 Iowa, No. 11 UCLA, No. 16 Washington, No. 17 Minnesota, No. 18 Ohio State, No. 20 Maryland and No. 23 Illinois.

The Hawkeyes are coming off a 27-7 season, including a 15-3 mark in Big Ten play. Iowa advanced to the Big Ten Tournament championship game and earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, extending its streaks to eight consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and 10 straight 20-win seasons.

Iowa returns five players from last season’s squad, highlighted by All-Big Ten selections Ava Heiden and Chit-Chat Wright. Heiden earned first-team All-Big Ten honors and honorable mention All-America recognition from the AP, USBWA and WBCA after averaging 18.0 points and 7.2 rebounds per game while shooting 64.1 percent from the field. The third-year center was also named to the coaches’ and media preseason All-Big Ten teams earlier this month.

Wright earned third-team All-Big Ten recognition from the coaches and honorable mention honors from the media in her first season as a Hawkeye. The third-year guard totaled 387 points and 138 assists, with her assist total ranking seventh on Iowa’s sophomore single-season list. Taylor Stremlow, Journey Houstonand Layla Hays round out the returning group.

The Hawkeyes welcome six newcomers, including four transfers and two first-year players. Georgia transfer Dani Carnegie headlines the incoming class after earning unanimous first-team All-SEC honors last season. Carnegie averaged 17.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game for the Bulldogs and helped Team USA capture gold at the 2026 FIBA 3×3 U23 World Cup. Iowa also added transfers Jocelyn Faison (Georgia), Amari Whiting (Oklahoma State) and Bria Medina (Knox College).

Iowa’s first-year class features five-star prospect McKenna Woliczko and Ella Strömdahl. Woliczko, the No. 6 overall recruit nationally according to ESPN, was a 2026 McDonald’s All-American and is the second-highest-rated recruit in program history. Strömdahl joins the Hawkeyes from Uppsala, Sweden, becoming the first Swedish player in program history.

The Hawkeyes enter their third season under P. Sue Beckwith, MD, Head Women’s Basketball Coach Jan Jensen, who owns a 50-18 career record. Jensen became the fastest head coach in program history to reach 50 wins, accomplishing the feat in her first two seasons.

Iowa will host Maryville in an exhibition on Oct. 29 before opening the regular season against Towson on Nov. 2. Both contests are scheduled for 7 p.m. (CT) inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena and will stream on B1G+.