Iowa Women's Basketball adds three games to the 2024-25 schedule

The 2024-25 Iowa Women’s Basketball team will be the beginning of a new era for the Hawkeyes. Coming off of back-to-back national title game appearances, Caitlin Clark, Kate Martin, Gabbie Marshall, Molly Davis and Sharon Goodman are no longer on the roster. Just because some of the familiar faces are gone does not mean that the program is about to descend into mediocrity.

The coaching staff wasted no time in the transfer portal, adding one of the best players available in Villanova point guard Lucy Olsen. Olsen was an Honorable Mention AP-All-American and a First Team All-Big East selection this past season for the Wildcats. She was third in the country in scoring (23.3 ppg) behind Caitlin Clark and JuJu Watkins, including 25 games with 20+ points. Around her will be returners Hannah Stuelke, Syd Affolter and Taylor McCabe, while there is a lot of excitement for a top ten rated incoming class of freshman.

The 2024-25 non-conference schedule has some exciting games to look forward to, including Virginia Tech, Tennessee and Kansas, as well as the usual in-state rivalry matchups headlined by Iowa State. On Wednesday afternoon, HawkeyeReport learned three more games on the non-conference slate per a public records request.

1. Hawkeyes set to host Northern Illinois in the season opener on November 6th

The first game in the post-Caitlin Clark era will come against the Northern Illinois Huskies at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. It will be the 13th all-time meeting between the programs, with Iowa leading the series 7-5. They last met in 2017 in Iowa City, with the Hawkeyes winning 105-80.

This past season, NIU finished with a 14-16 overall record including an 8-10 mark in MAC play. They lost in the opening round of the MAC Tournament to Kent State. The Huskeies have not been to the NCAA Tournament since 1995, but they did have a WNIT appearance back in 2017.

2. Hawkeyes to welcome MAC Powerhouse Toledo on November 13th

For the first time since the 2017-18 season, Iowa will welcome a pair of MAC opponents to Carver-Hawkeye Arena. A perennial power in the MAC, the Toledo Rockets will come to Iowa City on November 13th. It will be the first all-time meeting between the two programs. The Hawkeyes are 15-6 all-time against MAC opponents, with their last meeting coming against Bowling Green this past season.

This past season, Toledo finished with a 27-6 overall record, including a 17-1 record in the MAC. The Rockets notably defeated Michigan during the regular season, but were upset by Buffalo in the MAC Tournament semifinals. They defeated Cleveland State and St John’s to advance to the WBIT Quarterfinals, where they fell to Washington State. Toledo has won 85 games over the last three seasons, including appearances in the NCAAT, WBIT and WNIT.

3. Former Pac 12 member Washington State travels to Carver-Hawkeye Arena on November 24th

It’s going to take some getting used to, but this will actually be a meeting against a team from the West Coast Conference. Former Pac 12 member Washington State will come to Iowa City on November 24th to kickoff Thanksgiving week. It will be the third all-time meeting between the programs, with Wazzu winning the last meeting back in 2016 in Iowa City.

This past season, Washington State finished with a 21-15 overall record, including a 7-11 mark in the Pac 12. They were briefly ranked as high as #21 in the AP Poll, but won 3 of their last 11 games of the season, including a first round exit in the Pac 12 Tournament. The Cougars advanced all the way to the WBIT Final Four with wins over Lamar, Santa Clara and Toledo. Wazzu fell to eventual runner-up Illinois in the semis at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Washington State is the only ‘Power 5’ program without an NCAA Tournament win (4 appearances).

2024-25 Iowa Women’s Basketball Non-Conference Schedule (Unofficial)

November 6th: vs Northern Illinois

November 10th: Virginia Tech (Ally Tipoff) (Charlotte, NC)

November 13th: vs Toledo

November 20th: Kansas (Sioux Falls, SD)

November 24th: vs Washington State

November 28-30: Cancun Challenge (2 games)

December 7th: Tennessee (Women’s Champions Classic) (Brooklyn, NY)

Date TBD: vs Iowa State, vs Northern Iowa, at Drake