Scout Springgate, Hawkeyes WireTue, March 10, 2026 at 2:36 AM UTC·3 min readDespite Iowa women's basketball (26-6, 15-3 Big Ten) suffering a dreary 96-45 defeat against UCLA in the 2026 Big Ten Tournament Championship game on Sunday, following a pair of victories over Illinois (64-58) and Michigan (58-42), where do the Hawkeyes rank in the March 9 update to the Associated Press Top 25 Women's College Basketball Poll?
Against the Fighting Illini and Wolverines, sophomore center Ava Heiden combined for 36 points on 13-for-22 shooting and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line, alongside Hannah Stuelke's 26 points, Chit-Chat Wright's 25 points, and Taylor Stremlow's 19 points. In Saturday's win over Michigan, Heiden would also be responsible for all five of Iowa's blocks, which is a career-high for the 6-foot-4 native of Sherwood, Ore.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHowever, Iowa's fortunes turned sour against a buzzsaw UCLA squad that shot 63% from the field and held the Hawkeyes to just 28%. While Heiden would still post 15 points on 7-for-11 shooting, alongside Addie Deal's 11 points off the bench, the Hawkeyes simply had no answer for the high-flying Bruins on Sunday afternoon.
Despite the loss to the Bruins on Sunday, the Hawkeyes improved two spots to a No. 7 ranking in this week's AP Top 25 Poll.
In addition to Iowa, six other Big Ten squads are within the updated top 25. UCLA leads the group at No. 2, followed by No. 9 Michigan, No. 11 Ohio State, No. 17 Maryland, No. 18 Minnesota, and No. 20 Michigan State.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIllinois (three points) is the only conference representative in the receiving votes category.
As the Hawkeyes remain idle as they await the NCAA Selection Committee's final bracket for the upcoming NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament, Iowa is currently projected to host at least one of the 16 super-regional sites.
Here's a look at the full AP Top 25 Women's College Basketball Poll for Week 18:
Rank
Team
Record
Points
1st-Place Votes
Prev. Rank
Trend
1
UConn
33-0
772
28
1
-
2
UCLA
31-1
747
3
2
-
3
Texas
31-3
713
0
4
+1
4
South Carolina
31-3
682
0
3
-1
5
LSU
27-5
643
0
6
+1
6
Vanderbilt
27-4
607
0
5
-1
7
Iowa
26-6
556
0
9
+2
8
Duke
24-8
547
0
13
+5
9
Michigan
25-6
483
0
8
-1
10
Oklahoma
24-7
473
0
7
-3
11
Ohio State
26-7
452
0
11
-
12
West Virginia
27-6
451
0
15
+3
13
Louisville
27-7
439
0
12
-1
14
TCU
29-5
425
0
10
-4
15
North Carolina
26-7
305
0
16
+1
16
Kentucky
23-10
284
0
17
+1
17
Maryland
23-8
271
0
14
-3
18
Minnesota
22-8
218
0
19
+1
19
Ole Miss
23-11
208
0
24
+5
20
Michigan State
22-8
192
0
18
-2
21
Baylor
24-8
125
0
20
-1
22
Notre Dame
22-10
93
0
Unranked
+4
23
Princeton
24-3
87
0
23
-
24
Georgia
22-9
71
0
22
-2
25
Texas Tech
25-7
63
0
21
-4
Others receiving votes:Alabama 47, Fairfield 45, Villanova 42, Colorado 11, Rhode Island 9, South Dakota St. 5, Oregon 5, Illinois 3, Quinnipiac 1.
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AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThis article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Where does Iowa women's basketball rank in the latest AP Top 25 Poll?
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