Hawkeyes 4th, Cyclones 8th in preseason AP women’s basketball poll

Defending champion South Carolina is a unanimous No. 1

Oct. 18, 2022 11:14 am, Updated: Oct. 18, 2022 3:26 pm

Iowa guard Caitlin Clark (22) listens to Coach Lisa Bluder during a timeout last season. The Hawkeyes are ranked No. 4 in the Associated Press women’s basketball preseason poll. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

The Iowa Hawkeyes will go into the 2022-23 women’s basketball season as the fourth-ranked team in the nation, according to the Associated Press.

It is Iowa’s highest preseason ranking since 1994, when the Hawkeyes also opened at No. 4.

Iowa went 24-8 last season, shared the Big Ten regular-season championship and won the Big Ten tournament. The Hawkeyes reached the second round of the NCAA tournament before losing to Creighton.

All five starters return, led by All-Americans Caitlin Clark and Monika Czinano.

“It makes no difference in March what we're ranked in October, but certainly I want my team to have confidence and be proud of what they've accomplished. Iowa is on the map,” Coach Lisa Bluder told the Associated Press.

“We'll celebrate it and then forget about it.”

Iowa State opens at No. 8. The Cyclones were 28-7 and reached the Sweet 16 in 2022. All-American Ashley Joens, an Iowa City native, leads the Cyclones.

Defending NCAA champion South Carolina is a unanimous No. 1. The Gamecocks are followed by Stanford, Texas, Iowa and Tennessee.

Connecticut leads the second five and is followed by Louisville, Iowa State, Notre Dame and North Carolina State.