Iowa Makes History in Blowout Win

Not often does a team win a conference game by 43 points, but that's exactly what the Iowa Hawkeyes did to Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights stood no chance, at home no less, as the Hawkeyes' defense held their ground.

Head coach Jan Jensen called this one of the best Rutgers teams she could remember, but Iowa got the job done, 79-36. It marked a massive win for the program as they kept their undefeated season alive. Sitting at 9-0 (1-0), Jensen's squad could be in the running for a top-10 showdown against Iowa State.

One-Sided Victory Puts Iowa In The B1G Record Book

The Hawkeyes 79-36 win over Rutgers is their ninth-largest margin of victory in a Big Ten game.

36 points is tied for the least amount of points given up out of those nine games.
— Kyle Huesmann (@HuesmannKyle) December 7, 2025

The Scarlet Knights didn't lead for a second as Ava Heiden and company took care of business. Heiden once again proved why she's one of the most dominant players in the conference as she led all scorers. In fact, she was one point shy of scoring exactly half of Rutgers' point total.

According to Kyle Huesmann on X, this margin of victory is the ninth-largest in a Big Ten game. There are only eight other teams that have had a lopsided win worse than Iowa did to Rutgers, on their home court, no less.

Iowa center Ava Heiden (5) and Western Illinois forward Mia Nicastro (22) reach for a loose ball Nov. 26, 2025 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. | Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

After allowing 72 points to Fairfield as they came to Carver and put up a record number of threes, Rutgers shot just 8% from 3-point range against Iowa. Their largest lead was 48 points, but thankfully, when Iowa emptied its bench, Rutgers was able to fight back a little bit. In the end, it was far too little too late.

36 Points Allowed Was Nearly The Fewest

9-0. pic.twitter.com/TurnkftQop
— Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB) December 7, 2025

In those nine games that Huesmann mentioned, 36 points allowed is tied for the fewest. Looking at those nine games in particular, Iowa's defense was one point shy of allowing the lowest point total in the most lopsided games in B1G history. The conference is as tough as ever this season, but the difference between a team like Iowa and Rutgers is glaring.

No matter what their numbers were coming into the game, only Zachara Perkins scored double digits for the Scarlet Knights. She accounted for 30.5% of her team's points, though she shot just 36% from the field. Not a single Rutgers starter made a 3-pointer as Nene Ndiaye shot 25% and Kaylah Ivey shot 12.5%.

Iowa knows this won't be the outcome every game, but no one expected this type of result. With the Cyclones right around the corner, that will be a much more evenly matched game that could truly go either way.

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