Instant Takeaways From Iowa Women's Basketball's Win Over Towson

The first game of the 2026-27 Iowa women's basketball season is in the books. 

The 10th-ranked Hawkeyes entered the year with a lot of hype after winning 27 games last year, but Monday night's season opener showed one thing: Iowa still needs a few games to gel before the campaign takes off. The Hawkeyes took down Towson, 73-45, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Monday night. 

Here are some instant observations from Iowa's victory. 

Iowa has the pieces to be a really good offensive team in 2027, but these new pieces clearly need some time to develop in the non-conference. The Hawkeyes showed some flashes, but it seemed like one of those nights where some players weren't sure what to do, forcing the offense in to late shot clock situations that led to turnovers (more on that in a second) and contested jumpers. 

Iowa finished the night with an average 25-for-56 (44.6%), but going 8-for-28 from beyond the arc (28.6%) was a similar problem that killed the Hawkeyes in the NCAA tournament last year. 

Most of the fans in attendance probably expected Iowa to have a 20-point lead by halftime, but it was far from the case. Towson was certainly playing hard, but the Hawkeyes helped the Tigers by committing nine turnovers - many of which were unforced errors (traveling, stepping out of bounds, etc). These errors could certainly be chalked up to the classic first game jitters, but they seemed to trickle down to a poor first half performance. 

Iowa went just 4-of-14 (28%) from three-point range in the first half, and that allowed Towson to trail by just 10, 33-23, at the end of the first half despite shooting a dismal 31.3% from the floor (27.3% from three). 

It didn't get much better in the second half, either. The Hawkeyes finished with 16 turnovers on the night, with each one causing Jensen to scowl in disappointment. 

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Iowa would have a distinct advantage in the paint against Towson. The Tigers just don't have the size to go up against the 6-foot-4 Ava Heiden, and they figured their best defense was to throw Heiden to the floor - literally. It was hard to see what happened live, but Heiden took a sharp fall after being fouled hard by (add player). The third-year center was briefly down on the court, causing a sudden silence in Carver-Hawkeye Arena, but she soon popped back up to her feet. 

The officials reviewed for a potential flagrant foul, which was never called, but it didn't matter. It took awhile for the scoreboard to show it, but Iowa was manhandling Towson inside in the first half. The Hawkeyes had a 24-15 advantage on the glass and scored 12 points in the paint to help offset some of those turnovers. 

That number certainly blossomed in the second half, though. The Tigers attempted to put up a fight inside, but McKenna Woliczko was just too tough for them to handle. The first-year didn't play like a first-year in the exhibition game and didn't look like one on Monday, finishing with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting. She also affected the game in other ways, recording eight rebounds and three blocks. 

Woliczko is only going to get better as the season goes on, so Jensen has to be happy with that performance. 

One of the reasons Iowa took so long to pull away in this basketball game was the fact that it struggled mightily from the free throw line. It seemed like every trip to the line was a 50/50 trip, and the Hawkeyes ultimately finished with a measly 15-of-23 mark (65.2%) from the line. 

While men's basketball coach Ben McCollum has been adamant his rotations will be completely different when his Hawkeyes take the floor for their season opener on Tuesday night, Jan Jensen's crew didn't change much on this night. It's only game one so things can change in a heartbeat, but Iowa opted for the same rotation it used in its exhibition game on Oct. 29. 

Starting five: Dani Carnegie, Chit-Chat Wright, Amari Whiting, McKenna Woliczko, Ava Heiden

Third-year guard Taylor Stremlow was first off the bench to replace Carnegie, while second-year center Layla Hays relieved Heiden. Georgia transfer Jocelyn Faison and second-year Journey Houston followed to round out the bunch, and that was that.

The Hawkeyes return to action on Thursday, Nov. 5, for a home matchup against Eastern Illinois. The Panthers don't open their season until Tuesday night against Drake in Des Moines, after which they will make the short 90-minute trek to Iowa City to take on the Hawkeyes two nights later. 

Tip off from Carver-Hawkeye Arena is set for 7 p.m. local time on Big Ten Plus.