Exclusive: Iowa Stars Reflect on Final Season Together Before March Madness

The second year of the Jan Jensen era went according to plan as the Iowa Hawkeyes put forward a 26-6 overall record in the regular season.

They made it all the way to the B1G Championship game this year, and while that game may not resulted in a win, this team showed tremendous progress from where they were a year ago.

Iowa came into the 2025-26 season knowing they were extremely young, but seniors like Hannah Stuelke and Taylor McCabe were able to help guide this team through adversity.

Sadly, McCabe's season was cut short on January 25 due to an ACL injury against Ohio State. She's remained on the sidelines supporting her team, but the Hawkeyes sure would've loved to have her in both the B1G and NCAA Tournaments.

Stuelke and McCabe Reflect on the Season

"Yeah, I think it's been a great season," Stuelke said. "We have a lot of great pieces and I think we work really well together. Just kind of figuring it out throughout the season has been a lot of fun and there's more greatness to come."

McCabe chimed in, agreeing with her teammate and friend.

"I think we definitely learned a lot from last year to this year and incorporating so many younger pieces was really important to us and I feel like we did it really well this year and that's really shown. I just think this team has a lot of talent and a lot of potential," she said.

"Even though we had a hard loss we had a great tournament this last weekend, we had a great regular season, couldn't really ask for much better. Lot of confidence heading into the NCAA Tournament."

The Seniors Have an Inseparable Bond

Iowa Hawkeye — Iowa's Chit-Chat Wright (11), Hannah Stuelke (45), Taylor McCabe (2), Ava Heiden (5) and Taylor Stremlow (1) huddle during a game against the Michigan State Spartans Jan. 18, 2026 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. | Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

While the two weren't always on the same court, they have always shared a mutual respect and friendship.

"Hannah and I have been friends for a long time. We were originally AAU rivals and we played against each other quite a bit," McCabe said. "I think we always had respect for each other and we always liked each other. I went to go play with Hannah at Iowa Attack for my last two years of AAU and we just immediately developed a bond over our shared dry humor, so that was a lot of fun."

"We clicked instantly on the court so we knew that we had really great potential as teammates. When we both committed to Iowa, along with Jada Gyamfi, we were just super excited about continuing to develop our relationship," she added.

McCabe continued, "Over the last four years Hannah and I have been roommates, best friends, and we spend a lot, probably too much time together with the amount that we have practiced and day-to-day activities with the team and coming home together as well. It's been a really fun experience overall and I wouldn't change a thing. Now that we have just learned so many things over the last few years it's about passing it on to the younger girls and hoping they can find similar friendships for life."

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