Iowa women’s basketball is inside the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll at long last.
After beginning the season outside the polls and in the receiving votes category, Iowa’s 6-0 start was finally enough to impress the USA TODAY Sports Board of Coaches.
The Hawkeyes make their season debut at No. 24. Iowa owns wins over Northern Illinois (91-73), Virginia Tech (71-52), Toledo (94-57), Drake (86-73), Kansas (71-58) and Washington State (72-43).
In Iowa’s most recent victory over Washington State, senior guard Lucy Olsen led the way with 17 points, eight rebounds, five assists and one steal.
Senior center Addison O’Grady and junior forward Hannah Stuelke joined Olsen in the double-figure scoring column with 14 and 11 points, respectively.
The top five of the latest USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll saw some serious shakeups as UCLA handled South Carolina, 77-62, to snap the Gamecocks’ 43-game winning streak.
Elsewhere, Hannah Hidalgo scored 24 points to outduel JuJu Watkins and USC, 74-61, in another top-10 showdown out West.
As a result, the new top five features No. 1 UConn, No. 2 UCLA, No. 3 Notre Dame, No. 4 Texas and No. 5 South Carolina. Rounding out the top 10 are No. 6 USC, No. 7 LSU, No. 8 Oklahoma, No. 9 Ohio State and No. 10 West Virginia.
Other ranked teams from the Big Ten include No. 11 Maryland, No. 19 Illinois and No. 25 Nebraska.
Big Ten squads Oregon, Michigan State, Penn State, Indiana and Michigan are all within the receiving votes category.
As the Hawkeyes turn their attention to Rhode Island and BYU in the Cancun Challenge, here’s a look at the full USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.
Schools Dropped Out
No. 25 Oregon;
Others Receiving Votes
Oregon 46; Tennessee 38; Florida State 33; Michigan State 11; Penn State 9; Georgia Tech 9; Middle Tennessee 6; Indiana 6; Richmond 4; Mississippi State 4; Saint Joseph’s 2; Michigan 2; Creighton 2; Ball State 2; Stanford 1;
