Hawkeyes silence Murray State, roll to an NCAAT opening win

Rarely do things going according to plan in March and the teams that advance the furthest in the NCAA Tournament are the ones that adapt and adjust to adversity the best. Facing an upset-minded Murray State squad, the Hawkeyes found themselves in early foul trouble, but never faltered, leaning on their defense to keep the Racers from gaining any traction on the offensive end. A massive third quarter surge turned a relatively close contest into a blowout and Iowa rolled to a 92-57 victory.

“I’m just so proud of them. I’m just really proud of the overall team effort. I thought we had a really good defensive effort,” said head coach Jan Jensen. “Really grateful to get this first win, and any time you can survive in advance in any tournament, but when you get to do it in the NCAA, it feels special.”

Despite the end result, it likely wasn’t the start to the game that Jan Jensen was hoping for. Hannah Stuelke picked up two quick fouls to start the game and retreated to the bench under two minutes into the game. Ava Heiden wasn’t about to let that be a problem. The freshman made an immediate impact in Stuelke’s absence, putting up seven points during a 13-0 run that gave Iowa a 15-6 advantage.

“This is the first time Ava and company; the young kids have been on the biggest stage,” said Jensen. “When Ava started really, she just kind of locked in that next level. We challenged her and she really answered it.”

“Coaches always say be ready for when your name, your number gets called and I was ready for that,” said Heiden. “Going in there, playing free and having fun was the biggest thing. Having that mindset has allowed me to play a little bit freer rather than tense up and be tight.”

Defense ➡️ Offense

Kylie Feuerbach x @LucyOlsenbball x @ava_heiden #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/pMZxFPffBV

— Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB) March 22, 2025

Heiden wasn’t the only freshman to step up on the big stage on contribute. Taylor Stremlow knocked down a three-pointer late in the first quarter and another in the second quarter to give the Hawkeyes a 21-14 lead. However, while Iowa tried to traverse mounting foul trouble, Briley Pena hit a couple of triples to pull the Racers within 27-22. Lucy Olsen started to get in a rhythm late in the second quarter pouring in a couple of buckets, before picking up her third foul with 1:40 left in the half.

With Olsen, Stuelke and Feuerbach all on the bench with multiple fouls, the Hawkeyes finished the half on a 7-0 run that drastically changed the feeling in the building. Taylor McCabe knocked down and open triple, while Taylor Stremlow added jumper to expand the lead to double digits. On the final possession of the half, Aaliyah Guyton hit a step back jumper, sending Iowa into the locker room with a 42-30 lead.

“I think a key point was right before half, everybody had foul trouble: Lucy did; Kylie did; Hannah did,” said Jensen. “I was concerned but I also trusted our youth. That was a pivotal confidence-builder for them; I think for our whole team.”

“I felt decent at 35-30 and then about 11 seconds later, I think it was a 12-point game. But that’s what they can do. They have the ability to do that and they have so many players that can make plays,” said MSU head coach Rechelle Turner. “They had kids step up and make shots today that they don’t even normally make. But that’s what makes great teams; when kids can do things and step up and help their team win.”

Much of the late season push for the Hawkeyes has been because of the play of some of the veterans on the roster, but Ava Heiden and Taylor Stremlow were crucial in the first half combining for 21 of the team’s 42 points. Heiden has now scored in double figures in three consecutive games, after having zero such games during the regular season.

“Our whole mindset is being ready when your name is called,” said Stremlow. “Today it worked well for us and everybody on the bench came off and did well and put some good minutes in.”

“We tell each other from the start, whether you play the whole game or if you play a few minutes, your role is still important, and we truly believe that,” said Affolter. “When anyone comes off the bench, we have all the confidence in the world for them to go out and do their thing.”

Much of the pregame talk regarding a potential upset was centered around the Murray State offense. They came into the tournament touting the top scoring offenses in the country, while they were one of just five teams to average 10+ made threes per game. The Iowa defense was locked in from the start, holding the Racers to 2/11 shooting from behind the arc in the first half and it hardly got better, with MSU totaling a season-low five made three-pointers.

“We knew that was a key piece of this game. They shoot really, really well, they get in transition really well, so being able to limit that was a huge part of the game,” said Kylie Feuerbach. “We really knew the personnel from player-to-player and coaches do such a great job with that scouting report.”

“They did an outstanding job stopping us in transition. They were keeping us from getting into things that we wanted to get into very quickly, and we weren’t making shots,” said Rechelle Turner. “People don’t give them enough credit for their defense. But I thought they really got after us. They really game planned well to try to keep Katelyn off balance, and then again when we are not making shots it, makes it difficult for us.”

The Racers offense was already struggling to get things rolling, but when fifth-year senior star Katelyn Young went down with an ankle injury, that only added to the challenge. On the other end of the floor, they had no answer to for the Hawkeyes offense which was clicking on all cylinders. They had become a near unstoppable force.

Kylie Feuerbach rattled in a three-pointer, while Syd Affolter converted a bucket in transition to grow the lead to 49-30 early in the third quarter. Murray State took a timeout with the Hawkeyes on a 7-0 run, but there was next to nothing they could do. Iowa outscored the Racers 30-10 in the third quarter, with their transition attack resembling the one that has made them famous over the past couple of seasons.

“That was so fun. The past couple of days everyone’s talked about, and we’ve talked about how much Murray State likes to push the ball and that’s also our game. We like to push the ball, we like going up and down and I thought we did a really good job of that today,” said Affolter.

Syd The Kid™️@StremlowTaylor x @sydneyaffolter1 #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/7s8Wy3JPcx

— Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB) March 22, 2025

As you would expect with 92 points on the scoreboard, the Hawkeyes got contributions from just about everywhere. Ava Heiden put up a game-high 15 points and seven rebounds, while Lucy Olsen finished with a double-double 12 points and 12 assists. Hannah Stuelke (11), Taylor Stremlow (10), Syd Affolter (10) and Taylor McCabe (9) added to scoring effort.

For the game, the Hawkeyes shot 41 of 73 (56.2%) from the floor and 8 of 17 (47.1%) from three-point range. Of the 41 made field goals, Iowa assisted on 28 of them which set an NCAA Tournament single-game record.

“They make it really easy. It’s fun to score obviously but being able to make the extra pass, and I think we had our most assists in an NCAA game ever,” said Stremlow. “That just shows how special this team is how much we love to share the ball and support each other.”

Up Next: The Hawkeyes will play for the spot in the Sweet Sixteen, going up against 3rd-seeded Oklahoma at the Lloyd Noble Center on Monday.