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Inside The Hawkeyes

Iowa Injury Report for March Madness First Round vs. Fairleigh Dickinson

Other than the obvious, the Iowa Hawkeyes head into the NCAA Tournament quite healthy.
Jordon Lawrenz|
Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Jan Jensen watches the game from the sidelines Sunday, March 8, 2026, during the Big Ten Tournament Championship game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. UCLA Bruins defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes, 96-45, for back to back Big Ten championships.
Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Jan Jensen watches the game from the sidelines Sunday, March 8, 2026, during the Big Ten Tournament Championship game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. UCLA Bruins defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes, 96-45, for back to back Big Ten championships. | Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Iowa Hawkeyes

The Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball team has the honor of hosting their NCAA Tournament first round matchup against Fairleigh Dickinson.

The No. 15 Knights come to Iowa City with four players listed as "out" with one extra as questionable.

As for Iowa, they once again have four players ruled out for this game. These names come as no surprise with how things have gone throughout the season.

No surprises, at this point in the year, is a good thing. They would've loved to have one of these players back like they originally thought they would for tournament time, but either way, Iowa has plenty of depth and has been in great shape, especially now that they were able to enjoy a week off.

OUT: Taylor McCabe, Kennise Johnson, Emely Rodriguez and Jada Gyamfi

McCabe's season and career-ending injury was one that couldn't have come at a worse time. It led the Hawkeyes down their worst stretch of the season, a three-game losing streak that included losses to USC and Minnesota that never should've happened.

Losing McCabe was tough, but Jan Jensen put Taylor Stremlow in her place in the starting lineup and everything was back on track. Addie Deal will have her moments off the bench, but Jensen made the right decision by replacing her with Stremlow after that three-game skid.

Neither Johnson nor Gyamfi has done much for Iowa this season, but those are still two bench players that have been unavailable for quite some time. In a tournament like this, Iowa will take as much depth as they can get.

Rodriguez's 2025-26 season has been quite confusing. She is still on the team, though there doesn't seem to be any injury keeping her out of action. She's been out this long, so there's no reason to expect her back for the Hawkeyes in the tournament.

FDU Has Four Players Out and One Questionable

The Knights' lone questionable player is Akeelah Lafleur. The 6-foot-3 freshman brings some much-needed height to their lineup, but she hasn't started a single game all year. If the New Jersey native does indeed sit this one out, at least FDU wouldn't be losing one of their starters.

The four players ruled out for Fairleigh Dickinson include: Theresa Biladi, Sydney Stokes, Madison Stuart and Lilly Parke. None of those players have done much of anything with FDU this season, so it's not like their coming in as a super depleted squad. In fact, the most notable of those is Stokes who averaged just 3.6 minutes per game in her seven appearances.

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Jordon Lawrenz
JORDON LAWRENZ

Jordon Lawrenz serves as the Eastern United States College Recruiting beat writer On SI. Jordon is an accomplished writer covering the NFL, MLB, and college football/basketball. He has contributed to PFSN’s and Heavy’s NFL coverage. Having graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay with a Sports Communication and Journalism degree, Jordon fully embraced the sports writing lifestyle upon his relocation to Florida.

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