Building on a strong finish to last season, Ava Heiden is eyeing a sophomore leap

Tuesday’s Iowa women’s basketball open media practice ended on a high note—a highlight play from Ava Heiden to close things out. Facing the gray squad defense, Heiden received a feed from Kylie Feuerbach at the free throw line, shot faked and took it to the rim for the basket. With plenty of offseason buzz surrounding Ava, the play may have been a subtle bit of foreshadowing for what’s to come this season.

Heiden with the last bucket of the day. pic.twitter.com/XCfTGCsWye

— Jeff Linder (@jtlinder) July 1, 2025

Despite expectations that she’ll start at center and take a major leap in year two, Ava Heiden remains light on in-game experience. She ranked 160th among Big Ten forwards and centers in minutes played last season, while she’s still learning and growing with every practice. Still, it was her postseason performance on the big stage that sparked the buzz about a potential sophomore season breakout.

“I feel like last year I was the baby, and now I’m supposed to know everything, but I think that all the upperclassmen are doing a great job helping out the young ones,” said Heiden after practice concluded.

“It’s definitely been a difference. Freshman summer was a lot of a ‘what’s going on?’ type of thing, and now I feel a lot more settled and secure—just working hard every day.”

With Hannah Stuelke and Addi O’Grady logging the majority of the post minutes last season, Ava’s minutes were inconsistent. Still, she had moments that hinted at her potential—scoring 9 points and grabbing 8 rebounds in just 15 minutes against Purdue, then posting a combined 20 points and 16 boards over 49 minutes in games against Indiana, Oregon, and Washington while Stuelke was sidelined with a concussion.

Then, on the big stage, in the postseason, Heiden broke through, scoring in double figures in three of the Hawkeyes five games, including a season-high 15 points in their NCAA Tournament win against Murray State. Over five postseason games, Ava averaged an impressive 31.2 points and 12.2 rebounds per 40 minutes, while she shot 69.0% (20/29) from the floor. A big shot of momentum to propel her into the offseason.

“Those were kind of my proving-it games,” Heiden said. “That really secured within myself that all of this work that I’m putting in paying off and it definitely springboards me into the year, feeling like I have that confidence when I’m on the court.”

So, what is the next step for her game?

“I’d say the midrange,” said Heiden.

“I want to see her consistently hit at all three spots for us. The short corner, the elbow and the low block,” says head coach Jan Jensen. “She has the versatility to be able to do it, and she definitely likes to face up (against defenders) …We’re just really working on that consistency from those three spots, and she’s really been working hard this summer, working hard on her shot.”

For a freshman, Ava was really pretty good in and around the basket, shooting 61.6% (53/86) on shots in the paint. The next step in that department will be pushing her paint field goal percentage into the 65-68% range. However, the key to having a breakout season will be improving drastically on her 25.0% shooting percentage (4/16) on midrange jumpers.

“I’m expanding into the deep two and then this offseason I’ve been working on my three-point shooting. I’m working with Jaime Printy Brandt, she used to play here at Iowa, and so, just trying to expand my game, maybe fill a little bit into that four spot too, so we can play some size if we need to.”

While three-point shooting was not something that Addi O’Grady did at Iowa, she did master the short corner and free throw line jumper. O’Grady was as reliable as it gets last season, knocking down 56.8% (25/44) shots from outside the paint. Heiden says she learned from watching Addi that expanding your game to midrange makes you a threat against any type of post defender.

“Against Oregon, or UCLA, she’s hitting those shots against the tall bigs and I need to learn how to do that,” said Ava. “I think that really inspired me last year to get in the gym and really start working on that and now it’s starting to pay off a lot…a lot or reps, but I feel pretty good (about my shot).”

If her flashes during the postseason last season were any indication, Ava has the potential to be a high-level contributor at the center position this coming season. Driving all of the offseason buzz around her name is the fact that those performances came prior to getting an entire offseason to build, refine and expand her game. If her upward trajectory continues, she could surprise some people in the Big Ten this season.