Three Numbers That Stood Out In Iowa's Loss to UCLA

While there's one glaring number in particular, there are plenty of reasons why the Iowa Hawkeyes lost to the UCLA Bruins.

Feb 1, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes guard Addie Deal (7) is defended by UCLA Bruins guard Lena Bilic (9) in the second half at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

The No. 8 Iowa Hawkeyes will no longer find themselves in the Top 10.

Losing to USC was bad enough, but they followed it up with a 23-point loss to the No. 2 team.

AP voters shouldn't be too harsh on Iowa for losing to the Bruins, but it's how they lost that is alarming.

UCLA followed suit with how UConn beat this team earlier in the year. Their pressure was far too much, and for only the second time this year, Iowa looked like they didn't belong on the same court as their opponent.

1. Allowed 56 Points in the Paint

Final Score: UCLA 88, Iowa 65

— Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB) February 1, 2026

In no world should this be a real number. Keep in mind, Iowa scored only 65 points themselves. UCLA scored just nine fewer points in the paint than Iowa scored in the entire game. The Hawkeyes' defense hasn't looked this poor since the Huskies game, which shows that there are levels to this.

Iowa beat a ton of ranked opponents en route to this West Coast trip, but none of them were a true Top 10 team. Sure, they beat Baylor when they were No. 7, but the Bears quickly proved their place in the Top 15, at best.

Regardless, UCLA made a mockery of Iowa in this one. All but one of their starters finished in double digits, and that's not even counting the fact that their leading scorer came off the bench. UCLA shot 58% from the field, which should be no surprise, as seemingly every shot of theirs came easy down low.

2. Iowa Shot 24% From Three

No matter how good you are, no team is going to win many games when they shoot 5-21 from 3-point range. Things could've looked a bit different if a few of those threes went their way, but once again, this proved how much of a detriment this team is at without Taylor McCabe.

Freshman Addie Deal was 0-for-4 from three as she has just three combined points in her first two career starts. Iowa's starters were a combined 2-for-13, with Chit-Chat Wright being the only one to knock down a 3-pointer.

3. Turnovers Haunted Iowa

Feb 1, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; UCLA Bruins forward Angela Dugalic (32) ressures Iowa Hawkeyes guard Journey Houston (8) as they fight for a rebound in the second half at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Stop me if you've heard this one before, but one of the main reasons Iowa came up short was due to the number of times they turned the ball over.

Luckily, this wasn't nearly as bad as the UConn game, but once again, no team puts themselves in a position to win a game by turning it over 19 times. Iowa forced 15 turnovers themselves, but they turned those into only 10 points while the Bruins racked up 18 against Iowa. If Iowa wants to compete with these teams come tournament time, something needs to change.

Don't forget to bookmark Iowa Hawkeyes on SI for the latest news. exclusive interviews, recruiting coverage and more!

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