Iowa Gets Off To Best B1G Start In 30 Years

The Iowa Hawkeyes improved to 17-2 (8-0) with a gritty, hard-fought road victory over No. 15 Maryland.

85-78 was the final as overtime was necessary for the first time for the Hawkeyes this season. Iowa nearly found a way to blow a 17-point second half lead, but most importantly they didn't let a late Terrapins rally phase them.

Keep in mind, Jan Jensen is only in her second year as this team's head coach. They also have five-star prospect McKenna Woliczko on the way, and this is an extremely young team that should retain most of their players.

Iowa hasn't started 8-0 in B1G play since the 1995-96 season. For reference, they were 2-6 at this point in the season last year. Clearly, the sky is the limit for this program.

Iowa's First 8-0 B1G Start Since 1995-96

The youngest Iowa team in 13 years just went on the road and beat a top-15 Maryland team.

Iowa has an 8-0 conference start for the first time in 30 years and it’s only Jan Jansen’s second season.

Future is bright.
— David Eickholt (@DavidEickholt) January 23, 2026

Last year, Iowa was 12-7 (2-6) riding a five-game losing streak. At the same point this year, they are riding a seven-game winning streak and have only lost to a pair of ranked teams.

Iowa would love their loss against No. 10 Iowa State back, as the Cyclones are nowhere near the team they were when they took care of business on December 10. Other than that, Iowa's lone loss is to No. 1 UConn.

In B1G play, Iowa has taken down a trio of ranked opponents. Coming off their road win over the Terrapins, they're set to host No. 12 Ohio State before preparing for the biggest game of the year at No. 3 UCLA on February 1.

B1G Schedule Gets Tougher From Here

Ranked Road Dub. pic.twitter.com/0KNO13igHb
— Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB) January 23, 2026

Even with where they were at least season, Iowa still managed to make it to the second round of March Madness. Now, a B1G championship is in sight as if they keep up at this rate, they'll have earned a No. 1 seed.

The latest bracketology projection from ESPN saw them jump to No. 2, but Iowa still has their work cut out for them. Their game against the Bruins will decide just how good they truly are, but first they have to get past OSU and USC.

Currently, No. 25 Washington and No. 24 Nebraska are other ranked teams on their schedule. That said, who knows where those teams will be at by the middle of February.

The other big game to keep an eye on is when No. 7 Michigan comes to town on February 22. For what it's worth, Wisconsin has also been red-hot and that's the team Iowa is forced to end their season against on March 1.

Don't forget to bookmark Iowa Hawkeyes on SI for the latest news. exclusive interviews, recruiting coverage and more!