By Hawk Fanatic

IOWA CITY, Iowa – For the Iowa women’s basketball team, that games will start to count on Monday when it hosts Towson in the 2026-27 season opener at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

No. 10 Iowa crushed Division II opponent Maryville 124-67 in an exhibition last Thursday as Georgia transfer Dani Carnegie, a 5-foot-9 guard, led the way with 30 points.

Carnegie is one of six newcomers on the Iowa roster, to go along with five returning players from last season’s team that finished 27-7 overall and 15-3 in the Big Ten, but that also lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament despite playing at home as a two seed.

All-Big Ten center Ava Heiden, one of the five returning players, said the early exit from postseason is helping to fuel this year’s team.

“Obviously, it wasn’t quite where we wanted to go with it,” Heiden of how last season ended. “And so that gave us an edge, I think, for this year.

“So we have that edge, excitement and belief, and I think that’s a really good combination for the upcoming season.”

Towson enters its fifth season under head coach Laura Harper after finishing 17-14 overall and 10-8 in Coastal Athletic Association play in 2025-26. The Tigers were picked to finish fifth in the CAA preseason coaches’ poll. Senior guards Zoli Khalil and Thalia Shepard return after averaging 9.4 and 9.3 points per game, respectively, last season.

Towson added FDU transfer Ava Renninger, a first-team All-NEC selection and 2026 NEC Tournament MVP. Renninger averaged 12.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5.2 assists last season. Renninger was named preseason All-CAA honorable mention.

The Tigers fell to Hofstra, 72-71, in the second round of the 2026 CAA Tournament.

Jan Jensen is entering her third season as the Iowa head coach and she has a 50-18 overall record.

Iowa’s starting lineup for the exhibition consisted of Heiden, Carnegie, point guard Chit-Chat Wright, transfer guard Amari Whiting and first-year forward McKenna Woliczko, a 6-foot-2 former five-star recruit from San Bruno, California.

Woliczko had 14 points and 10 rebounds in the exhibition.

Iowa has sold out all of its home games for the fourth consecutive season.

“It’s just an honor too see all the fans and see how many people show up for out games,” Woliczko said.

**********

Towson (0-0) vs, No. 10 Iowa (0-0)

When: Monday, 7 p.m.

Where: Carver-Hawkeye Arena

TV/stream: B1G+

Radio: Hawkeye Radio Network

Series history: Iowa leads the all-time series against Towson, 1-0. The Hawkeyes defeated the Tigers, 100-72, on Nov. 28, 2019, at the Puerto Rico Clasico in Puerto Rico.

Makenzie Meyer led Iowa with 29 points, connecting on five 3-pointers. » Towson assistant coach Zion Sanders played four seasons at Iowa and appeared in the 2019 meeting against the Tigers