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Ava Heiden leads the Hawkeyes past Penn State

On3 imageby: Kyle Huesmann12/29/25HuesmannKyle

It was a high-scoring affair that surpassed what the sportsbooks predicted, but there was little in the way of drama for the Iowa Women’s Basketball team in their return from the holiday break. The 14th-ranked Hawkeyes were led by season-best performance by Ava Heiden and picked up a 99-76 win over Penn State to move to 11-2 on the season. The win gets Iowa to 2-0 in Big Ten play for the third time in four seasons.

“I was really happy with our third quarter, especially because that’s been where we’ve had some struggles in the games that we haven’t performed as well,” said head coach Jan Jensen. “I thought we did a better job being a lot more prepared defensively and running our stuff offensively… (Penn State) is hard to defend and you just think they’re going to erupt (at some point).”

The Lady Lions came in touted as one of the most up-tempo teams in the country and have enough offensive weapons to put points on the board in bunches. However, their defense, which has struggled was a sore spot again on Sunday.

It was back-and-forth in the early going, with freshman Tea Cleante knocking down a couple of triples to give PSU an early 8-7 lead. A five-minute scoring drought followed for PSU and the Hawkeyes took advantage in a big way going on a 16-0 run to take a 23-8 lead. They were 10-of-16 (62.5%) from the floor in the opening quarter and tied a season-high with 29 first quarter points. Chit-Chat Wright was crucial in the opening quarter putting up a dozen points, including a pair of made threes.

“I just think Chit-Chat is really important for our team,” said Jensen. “She is pass first, and she loves to defer (to her teammates), but you see when she gets going, it really opens everybody else up, so I really commended her today.”

An 8-0 run that included threes from sharpshooter Moriah Murray and Tea Cleante cut the Iowa lead to 35-22 and forced Jan Jensen to take a timeout early in the second quarter. However, the Lady Lions got into foul trouble putting the Hawkeyes at the line for 16 free throws in the first half. It was also Ava Heiden who helped Iowa maintain a 49-37 lead at the break. She had six first quarter points and added 11 more, on 5-of-6 shooting, in the second quarter.

The big key for Heiden was staying out of foul trouble. She played 25+ minutes for the fifth time this season and was whistled for two fouls. It’s just the second time this season she has played 25+ minutes and been whistled for two or fewer fouls.

“Coach Jan and Coach Randi, they’ve really emphasized (not fouling) in practice. I love to block shots, but I’m dialing that back a little bit and learning to play smarter,” said Heiden. “What’s really going to be beneficial and what’s just a stupid foul.”

Despite allowing the Hawkeyes to put up their second-most points in a first half this season (49), the Lady Lions tried to hand around in the second half. Back-to-back buckets, including a three-pointer from Rutgers transfer Kiyomi McMiller cut the Iowa lead to 55-44 with more than eight minutes to play in the third quarter. PSU had a couple of short spurts throughout the game, but the Hawkeyes never let it get out of hand. This time, they answered with an 18-8 run, building a 73-52 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Ava Heiden continued her big night into the final quarter with a bucket to give herself a 25-point night and Iowa a 25-point lead. However, Penn State had one last run, a 9-0 push that cut the lead to 81-65 with 5:51 to play. Iowa scored on six of their next eight possessions, including a three-pointer from Addie Deal that made it 95-73 with under three minutes to play. Deal finished with a team-high 13 points in the second half.

As for Heiden, she finished with a season-high 27 points on 13-of-19 (68.4%) shooting, while adding nine rebounds to come up just short of her sixth double-double of the season.

“Coming off of two tough losses against two really good teams, I tried to take what I could from those games and apply it here,” said Heiden. “I like to overthink a lot (on some post moves). I’m still growing in that sense, and it takes time. As I become more seasoned and older, it’ll become more natural.”

“I was so happy Ava wasn’t in foul trouble today,” said Jensen. “When Ava doesn’t get in foul trouble and she’s able to counter a big with what she can do, then there’s an equalizer and we weren’t able to do that in other games. Ava had such a great game because she stayed out of foul trouble and she was able to have some success, and I think get some confidence back.”

On a day where the Hawkeyes had six players score in double figures, freshman Journey Houston stood out on the stat sheet, once again. She recorded her first career double-double, finishing with 11 points and 11 rebounds in just under 20 minutes of action. Houston continues to make a noticeable impact whether she’s on the floor for five minutes or 25 minutes.

“I know my role here. I just do the extra things, and I try to get my teammates open. It’s not all about points,” said Houston. “There’s other stuff on the stat sheet too, so I just try to work hard to help the team.”

“And we notice it when she’s in there,” Heiden added.

On the night, the Hawkeyes were 38-of-76 (50.0%) from the floor, but just 6-of-23 (26.1%) from three-point range and were 17-of-25 (68.0%) from the free throw line. Taylor Stremlow, getting her fourth start in place of the injured Kylie Feuerbach, added 14 points, including a pair of made threes, as well as four assists. Hannah Stuelke put up 14 points and eight rebounds, while Chit-Chat Wright finished with 16 points.

Iowa was dominant in a couple of other categories, outrebounding the Lady Lions 48-27, including grabbing 27-of-32 defensive rebounds. They also forced 20 turnovers and outscored PSU 46-24 in points off turnovers/second chance points.

A couple of updates on players absent from the lineup, Jan Jensen says that Emely Rodriguez is no longer suspended and is back with the team but is still dealing with a back injury. Kylie Feuerbach is “day-to-day” with a jammed ankle she suffered against UConn and her status against Nebraska on Thursday is not yet determined.

UP NEXT: The Hawkeyes will open 2026 with a big-time rivalry matchup against the 20th-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers on New Year’s Day. Tipoff is set for 1:00pm CT on the Big Ten Network.

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