Poor three-point shooting and missed free throws sent the No. 2-seeded Hawkeyes home early.
March Madness can bring some of the greatest moments in sports, but it can also bring some of the worst.
Iowa women's basketball is on the unfortunate swing of that pendulum.
The No. 2-seeded Hawkeyes had their incredible 27-win campaign ended by 10th-seeded Virginia at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Monday afternoon.
The Cavaliers became the first team from the First Four round to make the Sweet 16, while Iowa is left to wonder what could've been.
Here are three observations from the Hawkeyes' loss:
Doomed from distance
After going 1-for-13 from three point range in Saturday's narrow win over Fairleigh Dickinson, there was reason to believe Iowa could turn things around in that department. The Hawkeyes tied for seventh place in the Big Ten with an average clip of 34.8% per game, but the talented trio of Kylie Feuerbach, Taylor Stremlow, and Chit-Chat Wright have caught fire at numerous points throughout the season.
Any hope of a bounce-back performance was quickly dashed when Feuerbach and Stremlow each missed a wide-open look. Iowa would end this game a disappointing 5-of-29 from distance, which helped Virginia stay in and ultimately outlast the Hawkeyes in the extra sessions.
Iowa's combined figure from deep in the NCAA tournament? 6/42.
"We have to make shots. That's basketball. That's what we're here for. That's why we practice so much. It just really sucks," an emotional Stremlow said after the game.
"I think they were good looks. We moved the ball well, we just didn't capitalize on them a lot of times."
Trouble from the stripe
Iowa's perimeter shooting was one problem, but poor free throw shooting played a pivotal role in the outcome of this game. The Hawkeyes went a combined 25-for-45 (55%) from the charity stripe in the NCAA tournament.
Iowa avoided disaster against Fairleigh Dickinson, but it couldn't get out of its own way against Virginia. The key to winning in March Madness is mitigating the little mistakes, and they definitely piled up for the Hawkeyes.
Iowa went 8-for-16 from the line on Monday, with four of those misses coming at the worst possible moment. Leading 59-57 early in the first overtime, a bizarre play and official review left Hannah Stuelke tacked with flagrant foul. Stuelke had two opportunities at the stripe before Virginia took its foul shots.
Both of Stuelke's attempts clanked off the iron, and she could only watch as Kymora Johnson buried both of hers to tie the game.
But the worst was still to come. Wright, normally a reliable free throw shooter at 85% on the season, went to the line with a chance to break a 63-63 tie late in the first overtime. The sophomore split the pair on two separate occasions, and instead of a two-possession lead with 18 seconds left, the Cavaliers only needed two points to tie the game and send it to a second overtime.
"Eventually our poor free-throw shooting is going to catch up with you. We've gotten by, and I'd like the record to state we have worked on it," head coach Jan Jensen said. "I'd also like the record to state that no one feels worse than the people that miss it, but that'll forever be something we have to contend with in a social media world."
History denied
Iowa men's basketball's NCAA tournament run has led to its first Sweet 16 since 1999. Its women's counterpart has been a frequent participant in the second weekend throughout its history, and a return trip to the Sweet 16 was expected in 2025-26.
Had the women's team defeated Virginia, 2026 would've been the first year the men's and women's programs made the Sweet 16 in the same season since 1988.
It wasn't meant to be this year, but it wouldn't be surprising to see that drought end in the coming years.
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