Hawkeyes ride a strong first half to a win over Purdue

It was a mostly drama free night for the Iowa Women’s Basketball team, as they used a monster first half to build a large lead that would ultimately be enough, despite a rocky second half. The Hawkeyes let Purdue whittle the lead down, but a win was never in doubt, grabbing an 83-74 victory over the Boilers on Thursday night. With the win, Iowa moves to 21-5 overall and 12-3 in Big Ten play.

“Kind of felt like we escaped and sometimes you do just have to escape. Then, you look at the stat sheet and realize Chat didn’t have her best game or scoring output and Hannah Stuelke obviously didn’t play and we were able to get a win,” said assistant coach Abby Stamp on the postgame radio broadcast. “(When you consider that) it might feel a little less like an escape and I think we’ve just got to view it that way. We had some people really step up tonight.”

Already down a starter with Taylor McCabe out for the season, Hannah Stuelke (upper body) was ruled out this afternoon, which moved freshman Journey Houston into the lineup for the first time in her career. Seemingly never phased and focused on doing her job when she’s on the court, Houston put up a career-high 16 points and five rebounds in Stuelke’s absence.

“Surprisingly wasn’t very nervous,” said Houston on the postgame radio broadcast. “I had that stay ready mindset…I was a slasher (in high school) but I did have a very versatile game. I’m getting comfortable now and starting to shoot the mid-range shot, and eventually the three-point shot will come.”

Up against a Purdue side that had really struggled to defend in Big Ten play, the Hawkeyes offense was clicking early and often. Taylor Stremlow and Ava Heiden combined for 19 points, as Iowa scored on 14 of 17 first quarter possessions to take a 29-14 lead after ten minutes. It tied a season-high (Evansville and Penn State) for points in a first quarter.

They continued to flex their offensive muscle, with Kylie Feuerbach burying a pair of threes to force a Purdue timeout with Iowa ballooning the lead to 35-14 just 99 seconds into the second quarter. Then came the barrage from Stremlow, knocking down three more triples, to make it 45-19 Hawkeyes. After putting up a career-high 17 points against Nebraska, Taylor put up a new career-high 19 points, including 5-of-5 from three-point range in the first half. She also added eight assists for the game. Iowa shot 66.7% from the floor in the first half and led 51-32 at the break.

TAYLOR STREMLOW, EVERYONE! @StremlowTaylor X #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/bUcUyhitjZ

— Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB) February 20, 2026

Ava Heiden got off to a quick start in the second half, scoring eight of the Hawkeyes first ten points. She finished with a double-double 21 points and 13 rebounds, while converting 10-of-12 (83.3%) looks from the floor. It’s her third 20-point game in the last two weeks and her ninth time this season.

Leading 61-39 midway through the third quarter, it seemed like the Hawkeyes were well on their way to an easy win. The Boilermakers, trending towards losing by double digits for the tenth time this season, didn’t lay down and made a few runs to close the gap. An 11-0 run cut the lead to 61-50, but Iowa had an answer. An Ava Heiden bucket, followed by a Chit-Chat Wright corner three helped the Hawkeyes go to the fourth quarter with a 66-52 lead.

Down the stretch, Iowa was a little loose with the basketball, committing seven turnovers in the fourth quarter. It wasn’t pretty, but they were able to do enough to avoid what would have been a sticky situation had Purdue trimmed the deficit to single digits. sooner than they did.

A Nya Smith three pulled the Boilers to within 67-57 early in the fourth, but it was quickly countered by an Ava Heiden bucket. Later, a short 6-2 push from Purdue cut the lead to 78-67, but this time it was Addie Deal knocking down a three to keep the double-digit lead intact. Although the Boilermakers closed the game on a 7-1 run, they didn’t crack single digits until the closing seconds and Iowa finished off an 83-74 victory.

On the night, the Hawkeyes shot 32-of-54 (59.3%) from the floor, 9-of-19 (47.4%) from three-point range and 10-of-18 (55.6%) from the free throw line. They lost the turnover battle (19-13) and lost the points off turnovers/second chance points (28-17), but outscored Purdue 42-30 in the paint.

Up Next: The Hawkeyes return to Iowa City riding a three-game winning streak for a critical matchup with the 6th-ranked Michigan Wolverines on Sunday. Tipoff is set for 11:00am CT on FOX.