Instant Takeaways From Iowa Women's Basketball's Win Over Eastern Illinois

Iowa women's basketball took down Eastern Illinois, 80-39, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Thursday evening. Iowa improves to 2-0 on the young season with the victory. 

Here are some instant takeaways from the Hawkeyes' victory: 

Abbie Boutilier hasn't played a lot of college basketball because of injury, but at 6-foot-10, it's pretty easy to wreak havoc in the women's game. The Texas native wasn't making shots, but she certainly presented a unique challenge for Iowa center Ava Heiden. Heiden is normally the tallest person on the floor at 6-foot-4, but even she had a shot blocked in the first quarter. The Hawkeyes love to run their offense through Heiden, so they had to adjust in the opening quarter, a period that saw them turn it over six times and shoot just 40% from the floor. 

Everyone inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena knew Iowa would get things going at some point in the first half against this Eastern Illinois team that won only four games last season, but the source of the spark came in some unusual plays. The Hawkeyes led just 15-10 at the end of the first quarter, but Heiden provided the first jolt by blocking Nyah Hardy's midrange jumper. The ball squirted on the floor, but Heiden managed to find it in time and shovel it to Dani Carnegie, who finished at the rim just before the buzzer went off. 

A similar play occurred midway through the second. With Iowa leading 25-13 and looking to pull away for good, Taylor Stremlow decided to take matters into her own hands. Call it a "Stremshow" if you will, but after she picked the ball away from Boutilier, she fired a pass from her knees to Amari Whiting, who in turn pitched it to McKenna Woliczko for the layup. 

Both of these plays ignited the Hawkeye faithful, which in turn allowed Iowa to pull away before halftime. 

Woliczko is only a first-year, but she might as well be a fourth-year with how confident she is playing so far. It's easy to get caught up in the moment when you are a five-star prospect and one of the highest recruits in program history, but Woliczko has looked like everything Iowa has hoped and much more to start her Hawkeye career. The coaching staff challenged her to let it fly from three point range, something she didn't do in high school, but she looks just fine out there so far. 

Woliczko was all over the court in this one, going 9-for-12 for 22 points, and four rebounds, including 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. The growing pains are going to happen at some point, but Iowa has to be extremely impressed with Woliczko's start. 

Perimeter shooting was a major problem for the Hawkeyes toward the end of last year, and though we're only two games into the 2027 campaign, Iowa hasn't fared well from long range so far. The Hawkeyes went just 8-of-29 against Towson on Monday despite consistently getting open looks, and a similar fate happened on Thursday. 

Iowa finished strong in the fourth quarter, but still ended just 9-of-28 from distance (32%). 

It's safe to say the schedule gets a bit tougher for Iowa on Sunday afternoon, as the Hawkeyes will travel to Storrs, Connecticut to take on No. 2 UConn. This will be the second straight year these two storied programs have met on the hardwood and it's the beginning of a home-and-home series. 

UConn is 1-1 on the young season after being upset, 77-66, by No. 5 Michigan earlier on Thursday. Tip off from the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion is set for 1 p.m. CDT on FS1. 

"No matter the margin of victory, it's one game. It's all about how we use it [for the rest of the season]. We're going to go out there and make it a fun game," Jensen said.