Iowa vs. UCLA Takeaways: Not a Top 10 Team

Losing Taylor McCabe still stings, but it hurts even worse when looking at the final score of the Iowa Hawkeyes game against No. 2 UCLA.

The Bruins prevailed, 88-65, in a game where they led 93% of the time.

Iowa's depth was questioned, but their youth and inexperience wasn't enough to guide them against one of, if not the top team in the entire nation.

UCLA now rides a 15 game winning streak as they handed the Hawkeyes back-to-back losses for the first time in a year. It's only happened three time under second year head coach Jan Jensen, and it's something she's looking to fix with just seven games remaining.

Iowa Couldn't Hang For 40 Minutes

Final Score: UCLA 88, Iowa 65
— Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB) February 1, 2026

As the game progressed, things just got worse and worse. After the first 10 minutes, Iowa trailed by just four points. Things weren't looking too bad, but then all of a sudden they were down by 11 at the half.

From there, it only got worse. The Bruins led by as many as 27 points as they cruised to victory in the second half. No McCabe has harmed this team in more ways than one, and at this point they were just doing whatever they could to end this dreaded west coast trip.

One can't blame the expanded B1G on Iowa's losses as UCLA arguably has to travel more than any team in the conference and they still show out on a nightly basis. That said, Iowa has seven chances to get back on track heading into the conference tournament.

Iowa's Remaining Schedule Is Favorable

3 straight buckets for @ava_heiden out of halftime 😤💯 pic.twitter.com/mYt7x7DQbf
— Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB) February 1, 2026

Four of their final seven will be played at Carver and it all begins on February 5 when Minnesota comes to town. The Golden Gophers will definitely give Iowa a run for their money as they come into this game with a four game winning streak.

At the time of writing, Iowa has two ranked opponents still on their schedule. It'll be interesting to see what happens with a team like No. 25 Washington in the polls, but their upcoming game against Ohio State will determine whether or not they'll be ranked when they play Iowa on the 11th.

No. 9 Michigan is the other notable team on their schedule. The rest of their games are relatively straightforward, but this battle could determine who finishes second in the conference. Iowa still has four games before they host Michigan on the 22nd, but it's one fans still have circled on their calendars.

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