After No. 9 Iowa women’s basketball (23-5, 13-3 Big Ten) escaped with an 82-78 win in a gritty matchup against Illinois (19-9, 9-8 Big Ten) from another raucous crowd at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Feb. 26, Hawkeyes‘ head coach Jan Jensen spoke on her perspective of senior forward Hannah Stuelke’s injury and whether she envisions the ailment leading to any long-term complications heading into postseason play.
The 6-foot-2 senior forward out of Cedar Falls, Iowa, was injured early in the first quarter of Thursday’s game after colliding with an Illinois player while diving on the court for a loose ball. Following the collision, which saw her left elbow get rolled under the Fighting Illini player, Stuelke remained down in some pain before officials blew the play dead to tend to the Hawkeyes’ senior star.
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Alongside Iowa trainers and medical personnel, Stuelke would immediately head to the Hawkeyes locker room to get treatment before eventually returning to the bench and subbing into the game just a few minutes later.
“It was pretty sore, and we subbed her a little bit,” head coach Jan Jensen said in her postgame media availability.
Iowa forward Hannah Stuelke (45) reacts during a basketball game against the Illinois Fighting Illini on Feb. 26, 2026, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa.
Despite the first-quarter injury scare, Stuelke would finish the game with 18 points on 7-for-13 from the floor and 4-for-6 at the free-throw line, to accompany five rebounds, four assists, two steals, and one block in 31 minutes of play.
Jensen would further elaborate on her perspective on the injury, noting that in-game adrenaline likely blocked immediate soreness in Stuelke’s elbow and added that she does not believe the ailment will be something season-altering.
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“I think there was just a lot of emotion, and I don’t know because she played through some adrenaline in Nebraska with her little shoulder incident. So now, it was pretty ginger in the locker room, but I don’t foresee anything that’s season-altering, but it is pretty sore.”
Although the tone of Jensen’s comments breathes a sense of relief for many Hawkeyes fans, time will tell how much the soreness impacts Stuelke’s skill set over the next few days as Iowa prepares for its Big Ten regular-season finale on Sunday, March 1, at rival Wisconsin (13-15, 5-12 Big Ten) from the Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin.
The Hawkeyes and Badgers are expected to tip off at 2 p.m. CT, with the game streamed exclusively on B1G+ (subscription required).
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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Iowa women’s basketball provides Hannah Stuelke injury status update
