Can the Hawkeyes finish the month of January without a loss?
It hasn’t always been pretty, but Jan Jensen and her young Iowa Hawkeye squad have taken care of business so far against some of the top teams in the Big Ten conference in January, with highlight wins coming against Michigan State, Maryland, and Ohio State.
Now, the squad faces their biggest challenges yet to end this gauntlet of Big Ten matchups, with a road trip out west that starts against USC. The Trojans have been an up-and-down team without JuJu Watkins this season, but are still able to compete well with their competition, especially playing at home after Iowa made a cross-country trip.
It will also presumably be the first career start for Hawkeye freshman Addie Deal who, along with sophomore Taylor Stremlow, are set to receive the bulk of the minutes that have opened up as a result of Taylor McCabe’s unfortunate ACL tear at the beginning of the OSU game.
With UCLA on the docket on Sunday, it would be ideal for Iowa to keep things rolling here and grab the more likely of the two wins. Unfortunately, Iowa has struggled on the road in conference play, to the tune of poor shooting performances (Northwestern) or late game collapses (Maryland). Let’s hope the team has learned from those.
The key component of this recent run for Iowa has been Hannah Stuelke. How she performs tonight out of the gate will most likely set the tempo for the team. Let’s hope she brought her A-game with her on the plane and continues her domination that has earned her — and the program — extra national acclaim during this win streak.
I’ll be around in the comments and recapping as well. Be kind, etc. etc. and GO HAWKS!
How to watch:
Date: January 29, 2026
Time: 8 p.m. CST
Matchup: No. 8 Iowa Hawkeyes at USC Trojans
Location: Galen Center — Los Angeles, CA
TV: Peacock
Category: General Sports
