No. 2 UCLA women’s basketball (20-1, 10-0 Big Ten) will face No. 8 Iowa (18-3, 9-1) at Pauley Pavilion on Sunday in its second top-10 matchup of the season. The Bruins lost to the No. 4 Longhorns on Nov. 26, but have maintained a perfect record since that game. The Hawkeyes are the second-highest ranked team in the Big Ten, behind only the Bruins.
Iowa had three straight top-15 wins, defeating then-No. 15 Michigan State, then-No. 15 Maryland and then-No. 12 Ohio State, but fell to USC 81-69 on Thursday, marking the squad’s first Big Ten loss and their first defeat since losing to No. 1 UConn on Dec. 20.
Here is a breakdown of Iowa’s lineup for the game.
Personnel:
Coach: Jan Jenson
Bigs/Forwards: F Hannah Stuelke, C Ava Heiden
Guards: G Kylie Feuerbach, G Addie Deal, G Chazadi Wright, G Taylor Stremlow
Best Player: C Ava Heiden
X-Factor: F Hannah Stuelke
Stat Profile:
Points per game: 80.4
Field goal percentage: 49%
Points allowed per game: 63.9
Field goal percentage allowed: 38.9%
Frontcourt
The Hawkeyes’ frontcourt consists of 6-foot-4 center Ava Heiden and 6-foot-2 forward Hannah Stuelke. Together, Heiden and Stuelke make a case for the best frontcourt the Bruins have faced this season.
Heiden leads Iowa in scoring, averaging 18.2 points in conference play, good for 13th in the Big Ten, to go along with 7.3 rebounds. She is shooting 63.1% from the field, but has struggled against other top centers in the Hawkeyes’ losses. Heiden scored just eight points against UConn and Iowa State, which both have some of the best frontcourt players in the country.
The other part of the frontcourt duo is Stuelke, the Hawkeyes’ leading rebounder. She is averaging 8.7 rebounds a game in conference play, good for fifth in the Big Ten, while adding in 13.8 points as well.
Despite her high averages, she can be inconsistent. She recently shot 18.2% from the field against Northwestern and 30.8% against Maryland. In the Hawkeye’s most recent game against USC, Stuelke ended with one rebound, her lowest mark of the season.
UCLA senior center Lauren Betts’ tear as a projected top-3 pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft has continued through the season, having shot above 40% from the field in every game since Nov. 30.
Betts is currently averaging 18.6 points and 9.8 rebounds a game in conference play, placing her 11th and first, respectively, in the Big Ten. She also has 26 assists against Big Ten opponents, the fourth-highest mark for the Bruins.
Despite the inconsistencies Stuelke and Heiden have shown, the Hawkeye frontcourt averages 32 points and 16 rebounds a game in conference play, making it vital for Betts, who has 26 blocks against Big Ten opponents, to step up on both the defensive and offensive end.
Backcourt
Iowa’s backcourt took a hit in its Jan. 25 matchup against Ohio State when starter Taylor McCabe tore her ACL and was ruled out for the season. McCabe was averaging 8.5 points and shooting 37.4% from the 3-point line prior to her injury.
Kylie Feuerbach, Addie Deal, Taylor Stremlow and Chazadi Wright will have to step up against the deep rotation of Bruin guards with McCabe now out.
Wright is leading the backcourt in points and assists during conference play, averaging 12.5 and 4.3, respectively, per game. She has seen success in games against top squads, scoring in double-digits in all ranked-opponent games since Nov. 20.
Coach Jan Jenson’s other go-to starting guard is Feuerbach, who is averaging 5.6 points and 4.4 assists per game against Big Ten opponents. Deal stepped into the starting lineup in Iowa’s game against USC and is contributing 7.3 points in conference play.
Stremlow is adding 6.7 points and 2.5 rebounds a game against Big Ten opponents. Stremlow, Wright and Deal are all shooting around 40% from 3 and have a combined 40 makes from deep in conference play.
The Bruins also have three players shooting above 40% from the perimeter with at least 20 individual attempts in conference play. Senior guard Kiki Rice is knocking down 3-pointers at a 40.9% clip, graduate student guard Charlisse Leger-Walker is shooting 44.7% from deep and graduate student guard Gianna Kneepkens leads the way for the Bruins with a 49.1% mark from beyond the arc.
Overall
The Bruins are averaging 85.1 points per game in conference play and boast a 26.3 point margin over opponents. The Hawkeyes, on the other hand, have an 11.9 scoring margin against Big Ten opponents.
While the Hawkeyes have yet to reach the same heights they saw during the Caitlin Clark-era, they have proven to be a formidable team against ranked teams this season and could give the Bruins – who are coming off a less than comfortable win over unranked Illinois – a run for their money.
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