Pair of Career Highs Guided Iowa Past Illinois

The Iowa Hawkeyes successfully secured a double-bye in the B1G tournament with their 82-78 victory over Illinois.

The Fighting Illini were nearly impossible to put away. Unlike Iowa's game against No. 6 Michigan, there was no big run in the fourth quarter as this one truly came down to the final whistle.

A massive charge call against Kylie Feuerbach propelled the Hawkeyes to victory, but that was far from the only big moment.

Sophomore Ava Heiden once again set a new career high, as did fellow sophomore Taylor Stremlow.

Ava Heiden's Career High 28 Points

That's our B1G!@ava_heiden had a career-high 28 points. 20 of those points came in the 2nd half. pic.twitter.com/B7XXVBIcIn
— Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB) February 27, 2026

Heiden was dealing with an illness that held her to just 23 minutes in this game. Fans were irate head coach Jan Jensen didn't have her in the game more often, but quickly settled down after realizing why.

Somehow, Heiden turned her shortage of minutes into a 13-18 performance that won't soon be forgotten. After the game she told reporters she, "had to be efficient so she could go back to the bench and rest."

Clearly, that strategy paid off big time. Iowa once again picked up a win thanks to a massive night from a player that inches closer and closer to being named B1G Player of the Year.

Knowing Heiden just swept National Player of the Week honors, it's crazy to think she still hasn't reached her full potential. Her 20+ point double-double streak may have come to an end, but most could argue 28 points in just 23 minutes is one of the most impressive, if not the most impressive thing she's done in her career thus far.

Taylor Stremlow's Career High 11 Assists

Big Dawg Double-Double 😎@StremlowTaylor registered her 1st career double-double with 11 points and 11 assists. pic.twitter.com/oPvBQLdteu
— Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB) February 27, 2026

Iowa City once again had a ticket to the Strem-show as the Wisconsin native finished with 11 points and 11 assists. It marked her first double-double of her career as to no surprise it was the first time the 5'10'' guard finished with double-digit assists.

Stremlow has been terrific ever since she re-joined the starting lineup. When Stremlow starts, this team wins. It's as simple as that. They're undefeated with her in the starting lineup and that has certainly helped ease the pain of losing Taylor McCabe.

Iowa has now won five straight and it's no secret both Heiden and Stremlow are huge parts of that. This team has one regular season game remaining before they head to Indianapolis for the B1G Tournament. From there, all eyes are on the NCAA Tournament where this team continues to fight to be a No. 2 seed.

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