Iowa Women's March Madness History: Record, Titles, Final Four Appearances, Best Highlights

The Iowa Hawkeyes are in pursuit of their third Final Four appearance in their last four seasons.

Iowa center Ava Heiden (5) talks to Iowa head coach Jan Jensen as she comes off the court during a game against the Oregon Ducks Jan. 15, 2026 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. | Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Jan Jensen took over the Iowa Hawkeyes a year ago as Lisa Bluder retired when Caitlin Clark's collegiate career came to an end.

Iowa was fresh off a pair of trips to the National Championship game, but they failed to get the job done both times.

A National Championship has eluded the Hawkeyes, but this year's squad certainly looks up for the task. While they've already fallen to top teams such as UConn and UCLA this season, all bets are off in the tournament.

Jensen has a career 1-1 record as she guided the team to a tournament win in her first season guiding the program. Now, getting out of the first weekend is the main goal and whatever else follows is the cherry on top.

Overall Tournament Record: 38-31

Fans celebrate a 3-pointer by Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) on Sunday, May 4, 2025, during a preseason game between the Indiana Fever and the Brazil national team at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. The Indiana Fever defeated the Brazilian National Team, 108-44. | Grace Smith/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The 2025-26 season marks the sixth straight year the Hawkeyes have made the NCAA Tournament. Seeing as they were 23-7 in 2019-20, they certainly would've that year as well had March Madness not been cancelled.

Excluding that year, they haven't missed a tournament since the 2016-17 season. In that stretch Iowa has been defeated in two National Championship games, a Regional Final, Regional Semifinal, two second rounds and had a first round exit back in 2017-18.

One would have to go all the way back to 1992-93 for their third (and final) Final Four appearance. This is a program that has only made three Final Four's which is hard to believe as two of them have come since the 2022-23 season.

Iowa Eyes First National Championship

Mar 8, 2026; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes guard Kylie Feuerbach (4) shoots the ball against the UCLA Bruins during the second half at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Robert Goddin-Imagn Images | Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

This is an extremely young Iowa team so their window to win it all is still wide open. It would suck for seniors like Hannah Stuelke and Kylie Feuerbach to miss out on that experience, but they had their chances and now it's up to the next generation.

Jensen was absolutely the right pick to lead the charge. She guided this team to a 26-6 record which is already a huge step up from where they were a year ago. Now, Iowa gets to play the first, and potentially second round on their home court as they're a No. 2 seed.

Getting out of the first weekend should be relatively easy, but then it's up to Iowa to prove they're among the best teams in the nation. They could certainly get some help in the other brackets, but all things considered it's incredibly hard to believe anyone has what it takes to knock out the Bruins or Huskies with just how good those two schools have been this season. Winning it all this year isn't out of the question, but Iowa would certainly have to earn it and avenge three of their six losses.

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