Iowa's Defense Delivered Masterclass vs. Top 10 Opponent

Earlier in the week, the Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball program held No. 9 Nebraska to just 52 points at Carver.

The women followed suit, allowing just 44 points against No. 6 Michigan. Playing at home gave each team a huge boost, but the women's defense was on center stage and delivered when they needed to the most. Remember, this Michigan team came into Iowa City averaging 86.6 points per game.

Iowa's win could push them into No. 2 seed category for the NCAA Tournament. They entered the game ranked No. 13 but enter the new week back in the Top 10 at No. 9.

Holding the Wolverines under 50 points is no easy feat. In fact, coming into this one, the lowest they scored all year was 52 points at Washington. Iowa took down Washington back on February 11, so their resume continues to get even more impressive.

Iowa HC Jan Jensen On Their Defense

"I think again, it was our defense. They really locked in on the scouts," Jensen said. "I thought Kylie Feuerbach with her defense leading the way, Chat, you know, on 12. I just felt like that tone really set us at the beginning and then it withstood their hard defense."

Feuerbach will never get the credit she deserves as she's not scoring a double-double seemingly ever game like Ava Heiden is. That said, her defense is off the charts and is one of the main reasons she's been a mainstay in the starting lineup.

Chit-Chat Wright has been quiet offensively lately, but that doesn't mean she's a liability to this team. In fact, it's been the opposite. Iowa has plenty of players that can lead the way in scoring, but defensively, this duo is as good as it gets.

Michigan Had No Idea What Hit Them

Big time win.
Big time celly. pic.twitter.com/XsBmsheyo4
— Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB) February 22, 2026

This was an incredibly close game until Iowa simply pulled away in the fourth quarter. Not enough good things can be said about how this team battled, especially since they've now won four-straight fresh off a three-game skid.

Iowa's losses to USC, UCLA, and Minnesota could've knocked them out of double-bye territory in the B1G tournament. Now, they just need to take care of business against Illinois and at Wisconsin and they should be the conference's two seed.

A No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament isn't out of the question either, and all it takes is a dominant final two games and a defensive masterclass in the B1G tournament for the committee to have no choice but to increase their ranking.

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