Hawkeyes roll past DII Missouri Western

Coming off of their second consecutive trip to the national title game, there was a lot of talk about the Iowa Women’s Basketball team over the offseason. Much of that talk was centered around what the Hawkeyes lost, instead of what returned. No more Caitlin Clark, Kate Martin and Gabbie Marshall. No more Lisa Bluder.

All that talk led to first-year head coach Jan Jensen adopting the ‘We’ve got next’ slogan. On Wednesday night, the new era of Iowa women’s hoops got underway, with the Hawkeyes earning a dominating 110-55 exhibition win over DII Missouri Western.

“I’m grateful to have a team that did what they should have done tonight,” said head coach Jan Jensen. “It’ll be a little different feel when the games count, and you start playing your caliber of teams, which we’re going to do next Wednesday.”

Although every exhibition game comes against a lesser opponent, and generally ends in a dominating victory, the Hawkeyes debuted four new starters. No one would have faulted them for having some up and down moments throughout the contest, as they continue to gel as group.

Those moments were few and far between. Kylie Feuerbach got the scoring underway with strong drive for a basket, plus the foul. The basket not only kickstarted the night for the Hawkeyes, but a night for Feuerbach. She finished with 14 points, including three three-pointers, as well as seven rebounds.

“That’s what Kylie can be capable of, so I’m hoping she can continue to show that because she’s one of our best defenders, if not the best,” said Jensen. “When she puts a consistent three ball with (her defense), I was particularly pleased with her play tonight.”

Sharing is caring 🫶#Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/F4MBNLy46u

— Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB) October 31, 2024

Hannah Stuelke made herself known early in the game as well with a couple of aggressive drives to the basket and a three-pointer. Back to full health, after spending all of last season with a nagging knee injury, Stuelke had a different edge to her game. She finished with a team-high 18 points and five rebounds.

“I saw a little different intensity with her,” said Jensen. “We played her at the five last year, now we’re playing her at the four, but we lost a lot of reps (at the four) last year and that’s what concerned me most. Now we’ve got to keep building on that.”

“It was nice to see her hit a three, she had some powerful drives, but the competition is going to get bigger and better. It was great to see her do all those things.”

The entire freshman class showed why they were one of the top recruiting classes in the country, but forward Teagan Mallegni stole the show with her performance. She showed no hesitation shooting from three-point range, knocking down four of her eight attempts. Mallegni finished the night with 18 points, three rebounds and three assists in her Iowa debut.

“The confidence that my teammates and my coaches have given me and talking me through everything, that has really been the biggest impact on my game,” said Mallegni. “I have to give it to my team. They trust me, they can get me the ball and playing with them has been great.”

Back 2 Back.

Welcome to the squad, Teagan!#Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/y0jNdReO0L

— Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB) October 30, 2024

Everyone has known about Lucy Olsen and her game from the moment that she announced her transfer to Iowa from Villanova, but tonight was her long-awaited debut in the black and gold. She finished with 14 points, six rebounds and six assists, showing off her elite midrange game on several possessions.

“I think we moved the ball well on offense, really played as a team,” said Olsen. “There’s a lot of ballers on this team…We want to win; we want to compete. We all trust each other, and our coaches have done a really good job of giving us the confidence, giving us the resources to make sure we’re prepared for everything.”

Freshman Ava Heiden cracked into double figures with ten points and four rebounds, while Taylor Stremlow totaled six points and nine rebounds. Taylor McCabe added eight points, seven rebounds and four assists in her first career start.

Overall, Iowa was 36 of 68 (52.9%) from the floor, including 12 of 34 (35.3%) shooting from three-point range. They outrebounded the Griffons 55-24, with seven players recording at least four boards.

Up Next: The Hawkeyes open the regular season against the Northern Illinois Huskies on November 6th. Tipoff is set for 6:30pm CT on BTN+.