krikya18.com team of the week, Iowa finished 8-0 in November, serving notice that the Hawkeyes will continue to flourish even after the departure of college basketball’s all-time leading scorer in Caitlin Clark and after the retirement of legendary head coach Lisa Bluder. The 8-0 start is the fourth-best start in program history, with Iowa moving up five places to No. 17 in Monday’s Associated Press Top 25 Women’s Basketball Poll.
Iowa’s latest two wins came during Thanksgiving week at the Cancun Challenge in Riviera Maya, Mexico, defeating Rhode Island on Nov. 28 (69-62) and BYU, 68-48 on Nov. 29.
In the first-ever program win over BYU, junior Hannah Stuelke tied a season-high with 16 points, with support from senior Addi O’Grady with 12 points, and freshman Aaliyah Guyton chipping in a career-high 11 points. First-year Iowa head coach Jan Jensen became the first coach in Iowa women’s basketball history to begin her tenure 8-0.
In the hard-fought win over Rhode Island, Iowa secured the victory as O’Grady led the way with 18 points, followed by Stuelke with 13 points, while senior Kylie Feuerbach scored 12 points.
With the two wins, Iowa improved to 10-1 all-time in Cancun, previously participating in the Challenge in 2007, 2010, 2013 and 2016.
The Hawkeyes will next hit the road to play Tennessee at the Women’s Champions Classic on Saturday, Dec. 7 inside the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Following the game with the Lady Vols, Iowa will return home to play nationally ranked Iowa State on Dec. 11.
