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This time, Iowa-UConn women’s basketball isn’t win-or-go-home
NCAA combatants in 2021 and 2024, the Hawkeyes and Huskies convene in Brooklyn for a regular-season battle
Dec. 19, 2025 3:46 pm, Updated: Dec. 19, 2025 4:10 pm
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IOWA CITY — Nobody has gotten the best of Connecticut during this women’s basketball season.
Michigan went the distance with the Huskies, though. And that gives the Iowa Hawkeyes reason for hope.
“Michigan stayed the course and was able to fight back,” Iowa Coach Jan Jensen said of the Wolverines’ 72-69 close call with UConn in November.
“You have to stay in the moments, because that (UConn) momentum can get going really fast.”
The 11th-ranked Hawkeyes (10-1) get their shot at No. 1 UConn (11-0) Saturday. Tipoff is noon (CT) at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.; the game is televised nationally on Fox.
Iowa and UConn have collided twice in recent NCAA tournaments:
- The Huskies rolled 92-72 during the Sweet 16 of the COVID-impacted 2021 event in San Antonio. Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers were highly acclaimed already, as freshmen.
- Iowa recorded a 71-69 triumph in the 2024 national semifinals in Cleveland. That was the Hawkeyes’ final victory over the Clark era, and the Lisa Bluder administration.
This time, Iowa-UConn isn’t about survival and advancement.
“It’s kind of a unique thing,” Jensen said. “Usually when you play UConn, it’s the first or second weekend of the NCAA tournament.
“This time it feels so much different because there is a tomorrow.”
The Hawkeyes will be a significant underdog Saturday against the reigning national champion; UConn owns a 27-game win streak.
“This is a good test to see where we’re at,” sophomore point guard Chit-Chat Wright said. “Not a lot of people get to play at the Barclays Center.”
Other than that close call against Michigan, The Huskies have been dominant, outscoring their opponents by nearly 38 points per game.
“This team has the potential to go down as one of the best teams they’ve had there,” Jensen said. “Every single one of them, deep down the bench, are really, really good. They just throw another wave at you.”
Other than Michigan, the Hawkeyes are the most highly ranked team that UConn has faced this season.
“They’re really good because they’re really well-balanced,” UConn Coach Geno Auriemma said of the Hawkeyes.
“Their post players are really good. They’re smart. They’re tough. They finish around the basket. They make 8 or 9 threes a game. So it’s a good team that can do two things really well. They can score with their bigs in the lane, and their transition offense is really, really, really good.”
Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com
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