By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Before it can win on Connecticut’s storied home court on Sunday, the Iowa women’s basketball team first must show that it can compete against the Huskies.

The teams met last season at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, but it was a mismatch almost from the start as Iowa committed 26 turnovers in a 90-64 loss on Dec. 20, 2025.

Connecticut outscored Iowa by 10 points in both the first and third quarters and never really was threatened.

Both teams have since had multiple roster changes, which is common from one season to the next these days, but both teams also entered the week ranked in the top 10 in the Associated Press poll, with Connecticut at No. 2 and Iowa at No. 10.

The Huskies will likely fall in the rankings after losing at No. 5 Michigan 77-66 this past Thursday.

But they still present a monumental challenge for the 2-0 Hawkeyes, who would gain some redemption just from playing well on Sunday, and by staying within striking distance.

Iowa is coming off lopsided wins over Towson and Eastern Illinois by scores of 73-45 and 80-39, respectively.

Iowa head coach Jan Jensen was able to use a lot of different combinations in the first two games, while also emptying her bench in both games as neither opponent put up much resistance.

The circumstances will change significantly on Sunday, though, with Iowa playing on the road and against arguably the most successful program and head coach in the history of women’s college basketball.

Geno Auriemma is in his 42nd season as the UConn head coach. Auriemma has led UConn to 12 national titles and to 19 undefeated conference seasons, including eight straight.

Iowa head coach Jan Jensen, on the other hand, is just in year three as the head Hawk, and she has a very respectable 52-18 overall record.

She also has a team that has shown signs of being locked in on defense, holding its first two opponents to just 45 and 39 points.

But again, the level of opponent has to be taken into consideration when Jensen evaluates her team in preparation for facing UConn.

“These teams have been inferior to us and I don’t mean that arrogantly,” Jensen said of Iowa’s first to opponents this season. “But they’re not a UConn. They don’t have the scoring punch. They don’t have the size, and they don’t have the ability to score just in every single way. “So to not really emphasize the tactics, I love our emphasis and intensity on defense.

“So regardless of who we’re playing, tonight, last week, or UConn, if we keep that type of tenacity; I mean how many teams were we on the floor tonight?

Iowa had 16 steals in the win over Eastern Illinois, including one in which All-Big Ten center Ava Heiden made the steal while diving to floor and then she flicked a pass to guard Dani Carnegie, who would go on to make a layup in transition right before the buzzer.

“I had my big girls on the floor tonight,” Jensen said proudly. “I think Ava made a hockey assist from the floor. That’s what it’s going to take to go into an environment of arguably one of the most successful dynasties our sport has seen.

“So that’s what I like about our defense. I’m not naive to think, ‘oh, we’re going to go in there and just really shut them down.’ We’ve just got to find a way to mitigate, right? You’ve got to find a way to take away some of their super powers and kind of shift them and have other people maybe have a little bit more responsibility than they would like to.”

Iowa finished 27-7 overall and 15-3 in the Big Ten last season, but it also lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Iowa City, and was blown out twice by UCLA and once by Connecticut.

Only five players return from last season’s team, but all five now have key roles and two are starters – Heiden and 5-foot-4 point guard Chit-Chat Wright, who scored 16 points in the loss to UConn last season.

Iowa also has added six players, including four from the transfer portal, along with former five-star recruit McKenna Woliczok, a 6-2 forward who has scored in double figures in both of her games as a Hawkeye.

Iowa’s starting lineup in the first two games consisted of the 6-4 Heiden, Woliczko, Wright, Carnegie, a 5-9 guard who transferred from Georgia, and Oklahoma State transfer Amari Whiting, a 5-10 guard.

Whiting led Iowa with six steals in the win over Eastern Illinois. She also had seven rebound and seven assists.

“The energy here is insane,” Whiting said of Carver-Hawkeye Arena after win over Eastern Illinois. “We love it. It’s been awesome.

“But I think this well be a good test for us. I think going somewhere on the road, I think it’ll be good for us just to bring our own energy and have our own swag once we step on the court.”

Third-year forward Sarah Strong leads yet another talented UConn squad. She is averaging 16.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game so far this season while shooting 52 percent from the field.

She averaged 18.4 points and 7.7 rebounds per game last season, and she scored 23 points, grabbed seven rebounds and made six steals in the win over Iowa.

The leading scorer for both teams in last year’s game have since moved on.

Former Husky guard Azzi Fudd led UConn with 27 points and she now plays for the Dallas Stars in the WNBA after being selected first overall in the 2026 WNBA Draft, while former Hawkeye forward Hannah Stuelke led Iowa with 17 points.

Stuelke, who is from Cedar Rapids, is now playing professionally in Italy.

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Iowa project starters

Pos. No. Name Ht. Yr. Hometown Season Stat Summary

PG 11 Chit-Chat Wright 5-4 3rd Atlanta, Ga. 10.5 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 2.5 APG

SG 3 Dani Carnegie 5-9 3rd Mount Vernon, N.Y. 16.5 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 3.5 APG

SF 15 Amari Whiting 5-10 4th Burley, Idaho 3.5 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 4.5 APG

PF 20 McKenna Woliczko 6-2 1st San Bruno, Calif. 16.0 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 1.0 APG

C 5 Ava Heiden 6-4 3rd Sherwood, Ore. 11.0 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 1.0 APG

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No. 10 Iowa (2-0) vbs. No. 2 Connecticut (1-1)

When: Sunday, 1 p.m.

Where: Storrs, Connecticut, (Gampel Pavilion)

TV: FS1

Radio: Hawkeye Radio Network

Series history: Sunday marks the 12th all-time meeting between Iowa and UConn. The Huskies lead the series, 7-4.

The teams last met on Dec. 20, 2025, in the Women’s Champions Classic at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. No. 1 UConn defeated No. 11 Iowa, 90-64, in Jensen’s first matchup against Auriemma as a head coach.

Iowa’s last victory over UConn came on April 5, 2024, when the top-seeded Hawkeyes defeated the No. 3-seeded Huskies, 71-69, in the NCAA National Semifinals in Cleveland Hannah Stuelke scored 23 points, while Caitlin Clark added 21 points, nine rebounds and
seven assists.

Sunday marks Iowa’s first trip to UConn since March 18, 2002, when the Huskies defeated the Hawkeyes, 86-48, in the NCAA Tournament.

The matchup begins a two-game home-and-home series. UConn will travel to Iowa City during the 2027-28 season, marking its first visit to Carver-Hawkeye Arena since 1999.

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