The Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball team represents the
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...
in
Iowa City, Iowa
Iowa City is the largest city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. At the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the population was 74,828, making it the state's List of cities in Iowa, fifth-most populous c ...
, United States. The team is a member of the
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...
as well as the
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
. The team plays its regular season games at 15,400-seat
Carver-Hawkeye Arena, along with
men's basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
and
wrestling
Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...
teams.
History
Iowa women's basketball began in 1974, under
head coach
A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...
Lark Birdsong. The first Iowa team finished 5–16 in 1974–75, its first victory over the
Minnesota Golden Gophers
The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college athletics, college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 21 (9 men's, 12 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and com ...
. Birdsong coached Iowa until 1978–79, which marked Iowa's first winning season. She was subsequently replaced by Judy McMullen, who led the program for the next four years. McMullen was succeeded in 1983 by former
Cheyney University coach
C. Vivian Stringer. Prior to her stay at Iowa, Stringer led the
Cheyney Wolves to the 1982 NCAA championship.
Beginning with the 1983–84 season,
Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...
inductee Stringer coached at Iowa for 12 seasons. In that time, the Hawkeyes won six Big Ten championships, played in nine NCAA Tournaments, and reached the Final Four in 1993. Unprecedented attention was shown to the Hawkeyes under Stringer, as evidenced by the record-setting 22,157 fans that watched Iowa play Ohio State on February 3, 1985, in
Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
[''Carver-Hawkeye Arena: Celebrating 25 Years.'' Iowa Sports Information, 2008.] Stringer, however, left Iowa to coach at
Rutgers
Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College and was aff ...
in 1995, following the death of her husband, Bill.
Angie Lee replaced Stringer, and led the Hawkeyes to a Big Ten championship in her first season. Under Lee, Iowa won another Big Ten title in 1998. In 2000, Lee's successor as head coach was
Lisa Bluder. Bluder. Under Bluder, the Hawkeyes have won two regular season Big Ten championships (2008, 2022) and five
Big Ten tournament championships (2001, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024).
On May 13, 2024, Bluder announced her retirement on that same day it was announced that long time assistant head coach Jan Jensen would be hired as the new head coach.
From 2015 to 2019,
Megan Gustafson played for Coach Bluder and the women's basketball program at Iowa. Gustafson was named the 2019 National Player of the year, after averaging a
double-double of 27.8 points and 13.4 rebounds on 69.9% shooting. The
2018–19 Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball team had a 29–7 regular season record, winning the Big Ten Conference tournament championship and advancing to the Elite Eight of the
2019 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament.
The
2021–22 Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball team finished the season 24–8 sharing the regular season title with
Ohio State. They also won the
2022 Big Ten women's basketball tournament, defeating Indiana 74–67 in the
Big Ten Championship.
Caitlin Clark
Caitlin Elizabeth Clark (born January 22, 2002) is an American professional basketball player for the Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Regarded as one of the greatest female collegiate players, Clark was tw ...
was named the Most Outstanding Player for the Tournament. Iowa repeated as Big Ten champions the following year, with Clark being named the most outstanding player. Later that season, they advanced to the Final Four for the first time in three decades.
Crossover at Kinnick
On October 15, 2023, the Iowa women's basketball team set a record for most people in attendance at a women's basketball game. 55,646 people attended
Crossover at Kinnick, which took place at
Kinnick Stadium
Kinnick Stadium is a stadium located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the home stadium of the University of Iowa Iowa Hawkeyes football, Hawkeyes football team. Opened in 1929 as Iowa Stadium to replace Iowa Field, it currently holds u ...
. The Hawkeyes play the majority of their home games in
Carver-Hawkeye Arena, but coach
Lisa Bluder came up with the idea to hold an event in the football stadium. The Hawkeyes played in the national championship game at the end of the previous season. Despite losing, following the championship, the team returned home to a welcome celebration on campus with over 9,000 fans, which inspired Bluder to plan an outdoor event.
Caitlin Clark
Caitlin Elizabeth Clark (born January 22, 2002) is an American professional basketball player for the Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Regarded as one of the greatest female collegiate players, Clark was tw ...
recorded a triple double with 34 points, 10 assists and 11 rebounds. The game was close early, but Iowa took a solid lead and ended up with the win in the exhibition game 94–72. The game was played for charity, and the school presented a check for 250,000 dollars to the
Stead Family Children's Hospital. The hospital overlooks the end zone of the stadium, and children in the hospital can watch home football games as well as this special event. At the end of the first quarter, fans and players turned toward the hospital and waved to the children, a continuation of a tradition started by the football team in 2017.
NCAA tournament results
Iowa has appeared in 31 NCAA Tournaments with a record of 35−31.
Retired numbers
The Hawkeyes have retired three jerseys in honor of the women's program, the most recent being Caitlin Clark's in February 2025.
National award winners
;
AP Female Athlete of the Year
* Caitlin Clark – 2024
;
James E. Sullivan Award (top college or Olympic athlete in the US)
*
Caitlin Clark
Caitlin Elizabeth Clark (born January 22, 2002) is an American professional basketball player for the Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Regarded as one of the greatest female collegiate players, Clark was tw ...
– 2022, 2023
;
Academic All-American of the Year (all Division I sports)
* Caitlin Clark – 2023, 2024
;
Naismith Trophy
The Naismith Trophy is a trophy awarded to the men's champion of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, and is named in honor of basketball's inventor, James Naismith. The trophy was first awarded to the winner of the 1967 FIBA World Championship. The ...
* Megan Gustafson – 2019
* Caitlin Clark – 2023, 2024
;
Wooden Award
* Caitlin Clark – 2023, 2024
;
Wade Trophy
* Caitlin Clark – 2023, 2024
;
AP Player of the Year
* Megan Gustafson – 2019
* Caitlin Clark – 2023, 2024
;
USBWA Player of the Year
* Megan Gustafson – 2019
* Caitlin Clark – 2023, 2024
;
Naismith Coach of the Year
*
Lisa Bluder – 2019
;
Maggie Dixon Award (top first-year Division I head coach)
*
Jan Jensen – 2025
;
Academic All-American of the Year (D-I women's basketball)
* Ally Disterhoft – 2016, 2017
* Caitlin Clark – 2023, 2024
;
Lisa Leslie Award (top D-I center)
* Megan Gustafson – 2019
;
Nancy Lieberman Award (top D-I point guard)
* Caitlin Clark – 2022, 2023, 2024
;
Dawn Staley Award (top D-I point guard)
* Caitlin Clark – 2021, 2022, 2023
;
Tamika Catchings Award (
USBWA freshman of the year)
* Caitlin Clark – 2021 (shared with
Paige Bueckers of
UConn)
;
WBCA Freshman of the Year
* Caitlin Clark – 2021 (shared with Bueckers)
;Notes
See also
*
Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball statistical leaders
*
The Law Firm — collective nickname for Caitlin Clark and
Monika Czinano, the key players in Iowa's early-2020s success
*
Caitlin Clark
Caitlin Elizabeth Clark (born January 22, 2002) is an American professional basketball player for the Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Regarded as one of the greatest female collegiate players, Clark was tw ...
*
Caitlin Clark effect – Clark's influence on the popularity of women's basketball, both at Iowa and in the WNBA
References
External links
*
{{Big Ten Conference women's basketball navbox