Women’s Basketball: Iowa at UCLA – How to watch, Fan Discussion

Two nights ago, Jan Jensen and the No. 8 Iowa Hawkeyes squad were humbled in their first game of their west coast road trip against the USC Trojans. It was the team’s first official game without senior Taylor McCabe in the starting lineup, who was replaced by freshman Addie Deal after McCabe suffered an ACL injury last weekend, and the loss of the senior played a big role in what Iowa was (or wasn’t) able to do — and how USC could guard the Hawkeyes, particularly Deal.

The result ended up being a lopsided loss to the Trojans, despite Iowa cutting a double digit lead down to 3 in the third quarter. They’ll need to play better in almost every aspect today to even have a shot at a win, as their next opponent is the No. 2 ranked Bruins on the road.

That will start with Hannah Stuelke and Ava Heiden again today. Stuelke found herself in early foul trouble Thursday night and never really got into a rhythm because of it. Heiden will need to play a strong game no matter what, though UCLA star Lauren Betts is listed as questionable on the injury report. One thing USC did really well against Iowa was limiting initial post touches, which forced the guards to take the majority of Iowa’s early shots. That was one area where Deal in particular needed to be better, and where Jensen’s post-entry first offense can sometimes struggle.

I don’t want to say this is an impossible win, but it will most certainly be the biggest challenge the Hawkeyes have faced since they played UConn…and that game didn’t go very well. It would not be ideal to come back from this road trip with an 0-2 record, but this is the end of the late January gauntlet of Big Ten teams that Iowa has faced. Things will get a bit easier for a few games here after this, so it’s not like a loss is the end of the world. The big thing to see here will be how the team continues to look without McCabe. I think everyone, myself included, thought that Deal would be able to step right in again in McCabe’s absence and play a strong game, but it was a classic example of overlooking all the things that McCabe did so well as a senior, particularly defensively.

This will be a tough one, but if nothing else, let’s hope it’s a growing experience for this young squad. Remember, this team is ahead of where I certainly thought they’d be at this point in the season. They’re still young, with a lot of good basketball in front of them this season and beyond. UCLA is a tough opponent for anyone in the country.

But a win would, of course, be really nice 🙂

I’ll see you in the comments and in the postgame recap.

GO HAWKS!

How to watch:

Date: Feb 1, 2026
Time: 3 p.m. CST
Matchup: No. 8 Iowa Hawkeyes at No. 2 UCLA Bruins
Location: Pauley Pavilion — Los Angeles, CA
TV: FOX