Iowa Survives Maryland In Gritty Ranked Road Win

When it comes to team's who could compete for a B1G title, look no further than the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Second year head coach Jan Jensen has guided her team to a 17-2 (8-0) record as the No. 10 Hawkeyes narrowly took care of business on the road against No. 15 Maryland.

The Terrapins fell to 17-4 (5-4) as Iowa handed them their third loss in their last four games. To Maryland's credit, all three of those losses are by ranked teams.

For what it's worth, this one got quite ugly. A win is a win, but in no world should overtime have been necessary for Iowa to prevail, 85-78 (OT). Turnovers cost them big time down the stretch, but when it mattered most, the Hawkeyes showed grit and determination as they were tested in overtime for the first time this season.

Nearly An Improbable Loss

Iowa led 66-49 with less than 3:00 left.

Now we head to overtime at 73-73.

Maryland hit its final 7 shots, including the tying 3 with :09 to go.
— Chad Leistikow🆑 (@ChadLeistikow) January 23, 2026

With 1:35 remaining, ESPN Analytics gave Iowa a 99.9% chance to win this game. Somehow, Maryland found a way to storm back and force overtime. Not having timeouts in the final 30 seconds came back to haunt the Hawkeyes as they turned the ball over time and time again in crucial moments.

Thankfully, things didn't take a turn for the worse. While needing overtime was bad enough, this was the type of wake up call this team needed. They took their foot off the gas against the wrong team at the wrong time, but they were able to band together to pull out a win.

Iowa led by as many as 17 points in this game as they controlled most of the 40 minutes. Ava Heiden, despite being in foul trouble once again, led all scorers with 20 points. Kylie Feuerbach was the lone Iowa starter not to finish in double digits, but a big boost from Journey Houston off the bench helped guide this team to victory.

Iowa Continues To Get Better

B1G DAWG 😤

3 straight buckets for @Journey_Renae! pic.twitter.com/k9hZIfD7NU
— Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB) January 23, 2026

For whatever reason, ESPN Analytics had Iowa as a relatively large underdog heading into this game. The Hawkeyes playing away from home certainly played a part in that, but that doesn't excuse the fact they were riding a six game winning streak coming into this game while the Terrapins were clearly struggling.

Once again, Iowa proved they have what it takes to be a top team in the B1G. How they fare against No. 3 UCLA remains to be seen as Jensen's squad first has to prepare for No. 12 Ohio State.

The Buckeyes come to town on January 25 for a game that Autumn Johnson named her No. 4 game of the week. Knowing Iowa was able to win her No. 1 game of the week, one can only imagine what they're going to do at home against another ranked opponent.

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