Jan Jensen has her squad cooking during her second season at the helm of the program.
The Hawkeyes are 10-1 (1-0 Big Ten) to start the season, with their only loss coming during last week's Cy-Hawk rivalry matchup against Iowa State.
Iowa has started strong on both ends of the court, averaging 83.8 points per game (ranked No. 17 overall), while holding opponents to 56.8 points per game (ranked T-No. 55 overall).
Iowa's 27-point scoring margin is ranked No. 18 overall in college basketball.
A part of Iowa's torrid start, the squad is starting to gel and overcome injuries to some key contributors.
Starting point guard Chit-Chat Wright (upper body), as well as reserves Emely Rodriguez (back), Jada Gyamfi (knee), and Teagan Mallegni (tonsils) have all spent time on the sidelines, but the team hasn't skipped a beat.
During the Cy-Hawk matchup in Ames, Chit-Chat and Mallegni returned for the Hawkeyes and Iowa was at near full-strength for their most recent matchup against Lindenwood.
While the main story was the victory over Lindenwood, a player who was missing from the bench is starting to attract some suspicions.
I asked Jan Jensen a follow up question today regarding the availability of Emely Rodriguez and if she is still with the team.
— Kyle Huesmann (@HuesmannKyle) December 16, 2025
“She is as of right now, yeah” pic.twitter.com/bkpyA3VQi9
After stating that Emely Rodriguez is still considered "day-to-day," Hawkeye Report's Kyle Huesmann asked a follow-up about her status report after she wasn't on the bench during the game against Lindenwood.
Instead of reassuring everyone, Jensen only made things more complicated.
Huesmann asked if Rodriguez is still with the team, and Jensen replied, "She is as of right now, yeah."
Jensen's cryptic response shrouds Rodriguez's status in mystery because we were only aware of a lingering back issue, not any further issues.
If Rodriguez has fallen out of favor with Jensen and the program to the point that she is no longer on the team, that is a significant development to monitor as the season progresses.
There have been no further updates surrounding Rodriguez's status for a pivotal matchup against No. 1 UConn this weekend at the Shark Beauty Women's Classic Championship in New York.
If Rodriguez does not play, it will be the fourth consecutive game that she has missed.