No. 1 UConn Huskies No. 1 Iowa Hawkeyes 11-0 32-4
Saturday, December 20th, 2025
Time: 1:30
Barclays Center
Brooklyn, NY
TV: FOX
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Prior Match ups
IOWA vs UCONN
UCONN LEADS 6-4
H: 3-1 | A: 1-1 | N: 2-2
12/30/83 Iowa 78, UConn 43 Coral Gables, Fla.
11/26/89 #11 Iowa 81, UConn 49 Iowa City, Iowa
11/29/90 #11 Iowa 58, #23 UConn 41 Storrs, Conn.
03/17/97 #1 UConn 72, Iowa 53 Storrs, Conn.
11/25/97 #3 UConn 65, #20 Iowa 55 Storrs, Conn.
11/21/99 #1 UConn 73, Iowa 45 Iowa City, Iowa
03/18/02 #1 UConn 86, Iowa 48 Storrs, Conn.
03/27/21 #1 UConn 92, Iowa 72 San Antonio, Texas
11/27/22 #3 UConn 86, #9 Iowa 79 Portland, Ore.
04/05/24 #2 Iowa 71, #10 UConn 69 Cleveland, Ohio
Iowa Overview
Iowa is 10-1 on the season. They started the season with easy wins against Southern 86-51, Evansville 119-43, Drake 100-58 and Northern Iowa 74-41.
Their first test was at home against at the time No. 7 Baylor. Iowa handled them in a close contest 57-52. They then took on unranked but always a tough team in Miami. Iowa barely got by the Hurricanes 64-61.
A three game stretch against weak teams followed with wins over Western Illinois 86-69, Fairfield 86-72 and then Rutgers 79-36.
Their only loss came next and it was against their instate rival. Iowa lost to No. 10 Iowa State 74-69 in a tough battle.
Iowa blasted Lindenwood 102-68 in their final game before meeting the Huskies.
Comparative Team Statistics
(leader in bold)
UConn Iowa
89.7 PPG 83.8
51.9 Defensive PPG 56.8
27.8 Scoring Margin 27.0
50.9 Field Goal % 50.5
33.1 Defensive FG% 34.8
40.2 Three Point % 36.8
29.3 Defensive 3PT% 29.2
73.5 Free Throw % 65.2
41.1 Rebounds/game 44.6
8.7 Rebounding Margin 13.9
24.2 Assists per game 22.0
12.4 Turnover per game 14.4
2.0 Assists/TO ratio 1.5
14.5 Steals per game 9.2
4.8 Blocks per game 3.6
UCONN
The player and coaches names for both teams
are clickable to see their Bios
are clickable to see their Bios
UConn Starters
Iowa Hawkeyes
Iowa Starters
Transfer from Georgia Tech
Transfer from Iowa State
Iowa Bench
Iowa Injuries
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Game Analysis
Iowa is not the same team UConn faced two years ago. Neither is UConn. Gone from both teams are the last two WNBA rookie of the years, Caitlen Clarke and Paige Bueckers. The Huskies have reloaded and are a better team than the last time they met. Iowa? Good but not great.
Jan Jensen is in her 26th season with the Iowa women’s basketball team and her second as the head coach. Jensen was named the P. Sue Beckwith, MD, Head Women’s Basketball Coach on May 13, 2024. The position was endowed in 2021 by P. Sue Beckwith, MD, one of UI athletics’ most generous supporters. Sue Beckwith was a four-year letter winner with Iowa Women’s Basketball (1976-1980) and has earned three UI degrees; 1980 BS, 1984 MD, and 2015 MBA.
There are three leftovers from that last Final Four matchup for Iowa and they all start.
6'2" Senior forward Hannah Stuelke started in that game and gave UConn fits. She scored 23 points on 9-12 shooting. This year she is the teams second leading scorer at 13.1 PPG. She leads the team in rebounding at 8.7 RPG. Her weakness is still her poor foul shooting. She is 53.7% from the line.
Taylor McCabe is a 5'9" senior guard. In the final four match two years ago she was in the box score but didn't have a stat, including minutes. This year she has started every game scoring 9.8 PPG and grabbing 4.1 RPG. She takes the most three point shots on the team averaging 7 attempts per game and hitting them at 43.4%.
The final returner from that Final Four game is Kylie Feuerbach, a 6' graduate student guard. She player her freshman season at Iowa State and transferred in for the following season. In the Final Four game (last mention of that loss, promise) she played five minutes and hit a three pointer. This year she is averaging 5.7 PPG and is the best free throw shooter at 86.4%. She is second on the team in assists averaging 3.5 per game.
6'4" sophomore center Ava Heidan is the leading scorer on the team. She is averaing 15.2 PPG and is second on the team in rebounding at 7.9 per game. She is an efficient shooter at 65.7% from the field. Another weak free throw shooter at 64.4%. She leads the team in blocks as well with 14 in her 11 games.
The final starter is Chazadi Wright, a 5'4" sophomore guard. Nicknamed ChitChat (don't ask me why), she is a real dynamo. She is third on the team in scoring at 11.1 PPG. It's amazing that someone that small is shooting 50.5% from the field. Her 17-34 on threes helps with that stat. She also takes care of the ball with 28 assists and only 10 turnover. She is a little injury prone and has missed three games.
Iowa has a very young bench. They play Layla Hayes, a 6'5" freshman center (Hoopgurlz 71), Taylor Stremlow, a 5'10" sophomore guard, Addison Deal, a 6' freshman guard (Hoopgurlz 23) and Journey Houston, a 6' freshman guard (outside the top 100).
Overall, against a mediocre schedule, Iowa has some nice statistics. They have a terrific assists/turnover ratio at 1.5 with 242 assists and 158 turnovers. They shoot a really good 50.5% from the field and 36.8% on threes. They have dominated the boards behind Heidan and Stuelke averaging 44.6 RPG and a huge 13.9+ rebounding edge. Their team weekend is free throw percentage at 65.2. If the wrong player is on the line in a crucial situation, it's a problem.
If you look at the player to player comparison, I just don't see one where UConn doesn't have an advantage. Maybe the center position with Williams against Heiden, but Williams is really coming on.
Final Prediction
Well, another game against a ranked opponent. This will be UConn's fourth game against a ranked opponend with the only close game a three point win against Michigan. And that one took a huge and careee game by Syla Swords, who was 8-14 on threes. Does Iowa have anyone that can do that against UConn? Doubtful.
Iowa's top two scorers are their two bigs Heiden and Stuelke. UConn has the players to keep those two under reasonable control. Their guards hit open shots, but we know how little guards are open against this UConn defense.
I'm expecting Williams to continue her upward trajectory and make an imprint on the game defensively.
This could be a competative game for a while. But if UConn gets out to a fast start, it could get ugly fast. Can the Iowa guards handle the press, and handle the pressure in the half court to get the ball to their talented bigs? The answer to that will be clear as the game plays out.
Iowa scored 57, 64 and 69 points in their games against good teams, winning two of them. UConn's defense is so much better than Baylor, Miami and Iowa State. Can Iowa get to 60? Doubtful. If they don't, UConn will win by 20+. I'll be conservative with my prediction.
UConn by 15+.
