Iowa Advances to B1G Championship After Defeating Michigan

For the first time in the Jan Jensen era, the Iowa Hawkeyes have advanced to the B1G Championship.

Last year Jensen guided her squad to the quarterfinals, where they fell to a ranked Ohio State team by just one point.

This year, things were entirely different. Iowa is a Top 10 team nationally, as they once again proved they're better than the Michigan Wolverines squad who is ranked ahead of them.

Iowa received a double-bye in the tournament meaning they needed to win just three games to win it all. After taking down Illinois and Michigan, UCLA is all that remains.

Iowa Pulls Away Late vs. Michigan

All of Hawkeye Nation rn... pic.twitter.com/eGe74sx17p
— Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB) March 7, 2026

The Hawkeyes allowed just four first quarter points, something that is hard to believe against a Michigan squad that is the No. 3 seed in this tournament and the No. 8 seed in the nation. The Wolverines got back into it in the second quarter, and a strong third quarter had Michigan believing they were on their way to the B1G Championship.

Sadly for Michigan, Iowa pulled away late. This mirrored these team's first meeting at Carver back on February 22 where the Hawkeyes prevailed, 62-44. After holding them to 44 points in their first meeting, Iowa held Michigan to just 42 in this one.

Iowa took care of business against Illinois, 64-58, then took down Michigan, 59-42 UCLA is clearly the top team in this conference, but now Iowa has their sights set on their first conference title since the Caitlin Clark three-peat.

Iowa vs. UCLA Rematch

.@StremlowTaylor ➡️ @StuelkeHannah 🙌 pic.twitter.com/Psfy3YtQJv
— Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB) March 7, 2026

Back on February 1, Iowa traveled to the west coast, where they were defeated by both unranked USC and No. 2 UCLA. The Bruins remain the No. 2 team in the nation, though the roles are reversed heading into the B1G Championship.

Iowa comes in as the No. 2 seed while UCLA is the clear-cut No. 1 team in this conference. They've yet to lose a B1G matchup this year, and that's something reigning B1G Coach of the Year Cori Close doesn't plan on happening at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

The Bruins took down Iowa, 88-65, in a game that happened to be during the Hawkeyes' worst stretch of the season. Now, Jensen helped this squad punch their ticket to their sixth B1G Championship appearance in their last eight seasons. They certainly haven't won all of them, and this won't be easy, but the Hawkeyes are riding all the momentum in the world going into the NCAA Tournament.

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