The No. 21 Iowa Hawkeyes are having a dominating start to the 2025-2026 women's basketball season.
In their first road test of the season, Iowa went into the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls, Iowa, and easily handled Northern Iowa 74-41.
After defeating UNI, the Hawkeyes have now beaten every team this season by 30-plus points.
While Iowa's offense has been stellar to start the year, the defense has been even better. Through the first four games of the season, the Hawkeyes have not allowed more than 58 points and are allowing an average of 48 points per game.
Against UNI, the Hawkeyes also had a balanced attack with 12 players scoring a basket in the win. Chit-Chat Wright led all scorers with 19 points, with freshman phenom Layla Hays adding 14 points and seven rebounds.
Ava Heiden also added eight points and six rebounds.
Chit-Chat continues to be a godsend for the squad
Transfer guard Chit-Chat Wright had big shoes to fill after she transferred to Iowa from Georgia Tech. While Iowa fans have gotten used to dominating point guards with Lucy Olsen and Caitlin Clark, Wright has never been that player.
She will do whatever the team needs, and she continues to prove that every game.
Against UNI, Hannah Stuelke and Ava Heiden did not have their normal big scoring outputs, so Chit-Chat took on more of a scoring load.
When other players are hot, Chit-Chat becomes more of a facilitator for the squad, and is leading the team with 6.7 assists per game.
While the Hawkeyes have not faced a true test yet, Chit-Chat will continue to be an irreplaceable player moving forward.
The Hawkeyes have a three-headed monster in the post
Hannah Stuelke gets most of the headlines for the Hawkeyes, and rightly so, but Ava Heiden and freshman Layla Hays have largely outplayed her to this point in the season.
Heiden has become a double-double machine, running the floor with grace and athleticism to create open looks at the basket. Through four games this season, she is averaging 16.3 points and 10.0 rebounds per game.
Hays has come in as a freshman and dominated down low, becoming a go-to player for Jan Jensen off the bench.
Where the trio excels is in the paint and on the glass, with Stuelke (7.7), Heiden (10.0), and Hays (5.3) all averaging over five rebounds per game.
Jensen loves to run the offense through the post, and these three talented players are making her job a lot easier.
The Hawkeyes head back to Carver-Hawkeye Arena for the next game on November 20 against a tough No. 7 Baylor squad.