The 2023–24 Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball team represented 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 ...

during the

2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season The 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season began on November 6, 2023. The regular season ended on March 17, 2024, with the 2024 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament beginning on March 20 and ended with the 2024 NCAA Division ...

. The Hawkeyes were led by head coach

Lisa Bluder Lisa Marie Bluder (, born April 16, 1961) is the former head coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball, Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball program. Formerly, she served as coach of St. Ambrose University and the Drake Bulldogs women's basketba ...

in her twenty-fourth and final season, and played their home games at

Carver–Hawkeye Arena The Carver–Hawkeye Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Iowa City, Iowa. Opened in 1983, it is the home court for the University of Iowa Hawkeyes men's and women's basketball teams, as well as the university's wrestling and gymnas ...

as 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 ...

. After finishing second in the conference regular season standings, the Hawkeyes won the

Big Ten tournament Big Ten Tournament can refer to any Big Ten Conference sport that has a tournament or championship game: * Big Ten Football Championship Game * Big Ten men's basketball tournament * Big Ten women's basketball tournament * Big Ten baseball tournamen ...

for the third consecutive season and received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The Hawkeyes were named a No. 1 seed (Iowa's first since

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

) in the Albany 2 regional and were ranked as the tournament's 2nd overall seed. During the NCAA tournament they defeated Holy Cross,

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

, and

UConn The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

to return to the title game for the second consecutive season. However, the Hawkeyes were defeated by top-ranked and undefeated

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, 87–75, in the national championship game. Iowa finished the season with a record of 34–5 to set a program record and tie the Big Ten record for wins in a season. Senior

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 ...

, who entered the season as the reigning National Player of the Year and a pre-season All-American, exceeded impossibly high expectations to leave an indelible mark on the University of Iowa and women's college basketball. Clark capped her career by being named both Big Ten Player of the Year and a unanimous First-team All-American for the third time, swept National Player of the Year awards for the second time, and finished with numerous NCAA records highlighted by the NCAA career scoring record. Despite Clark's on-court accomplishments, she remained consistent that her legacy is more closely tied to broader impact growing interest in the sport and inspiring the next generation. The final three games of Clark's career became the three most watched women's college basketball games of all-time. On April 10, at a celebration event at Carver–Hawkeye Arena, Iowa announced that Clark's jersey number 22 would be the third number to be retired in program history. Clark's jersey was retired at the

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

–

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

women's basketball game on February 2, 2025, a game in which the unranked Hawkeyes upset the number-four ranked Trojans 76–69. The senior class, led by Clark,

Kate Martin Kate Marie Martin (born June 5, 2000) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Valkyries of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for the Iowa Hawkeyes. She was selected in th ...

, and Gabbie Marshall, concluded their college careers having secured four NCAA tournament appearances, including three Sweet Sixteens and two Final Fours.

Previous season

The Hawkeyes finished the 2022–23 season with a 31–7 record, including 15–3 in

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...

play. They won the 2023 Big Ten women's basketball tournament and earned the conference's automatic bid to the

2023 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament The 2023 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 68 teams to determine the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college basketball national champion for the 2022–23 NCAA Divis ...

. They advanced to the

championship game A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional/provincial/state, national, continental and world championships, and ...

for the first time in program history, but they lost to

102–85.

Off-season

Departures

Recruits

Roster

Schedule and results

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Rankings

2024 WNBA Draft

Ava Jones injury and medical retirement

Freshman

Ava Jones Ava Jones (born March 7, 2005) is an American former basketball player from Nickerson, Kansas. She was a standout high school athlete who had committed to play for the University of Iowa. She became more widely known for surviving a serious and ...

was not cleared to play during the 2023–24 season. Two days after she committed to Iowa in 2022, and the day before she was set to start play in an AAU tournament in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

, she and her family were struck by an impaired driver while standing on a

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

sidewalk. Her father Trey Jones was killed, her mother Amy Jones suffered serious injuries, and Ava suffered a traumatic brain injury and severe damage to both knees. Ava ultimately took a medical disqualification and retired from basketball on June 7, 2024. In October 2024, the driver, Michael Hurley, was convicted of murder, driving under the influence, and multiple assault charges.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2023-24 Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball team Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball seasons

NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament Final Four seasons