The top 25 teams in The Associated Press’ college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Feb. 14, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and previous ranking

Others receiving votes: Oklahoma St. 71, Rutgers 49, Belmont 47, Louisville 40, Colorado 31, Oregon 30, Drake 22, Purdue 20, Clemson 17, LSU 16, Florida 16, UCLA 10, VCU 10, Saint Louis 5, Xavier 4, Toledo 2, Western Kentucky 2, North Carolina 2, UC Santa Barbara 1, BYU 1, Wichita St. 1, Wright St. 1, Utah St. 1.

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The University of Iowa announced today that it is fully reinstating women’s swimming and diving as an NCAA and Big Ten Conference program. The team is currently competing in the 2020-21 season and was originally scheduled to be discontinued at the end of this year due to financial challenges created by the pandemic.

“Every student-athlete in all 24 sports at Iowa has experienced challenges and uncertainty since the pandemic began. This has been especially true for the men and women in the four sports we announced would be discontinued after this season,” said Gary Barta, Henry B. and Patricia B. Tippie Director of Athletics Chair. “The women’s swimming lawsuit brought forward last September, combined with the recent court order mandating the continuation of the sport during the legal process, has created additional uncertainty that could last several months or even years.

“We made the decision the right thing to do was to re-instate the women’s swimming and diving program and remove any uncertainty moving forward for our current student-athletes as well as high school swimmers considering attending the University of Iowa.”

In August 2020, the Iowa Athletics Department estimated a financial deficit of $75 million brought on by the COVID pandemic. A plan was developed to help mitigate the shortfall that included operational budget cuts, salary reductions, position eliminations and the discontinuation of four sports (men’s and women’s swimming and diving, men’s gymnastics, and men’s tennis) at the conclusion of the 2020-21 season. The estimated deficit has been reduced to approximately $50-$60 million due to those mitigation efforts and limited revenues generated during the modified football season, but the financial challenge remains significant and the decision to discontinue the three men’s sports identified will remain in place.

“We remain committed to support and care for those student-athletes, honor their scholarships if they choose to remain at Iowa and provide academic, medical and mental health support as requested,” said Barta.

In September 2020, a lawsuit was filed challenging the decision to discontinue women’s swimming. The University continues to disagree with the claims made in the lawsuit, and the subsequent preliminary injunction to continue offering the sport in 2021-2022 while the lawsuit makes its way through the court system. However, in the interests of serving our student-athletes, coaches and community, the University believes more certainty will be beneficial for the future of the program. Accordingly, the University has decided it is in the best interests of the student-athletes, coaches, and the athletics department to voluntarily reinstate the program, regardless of any outcome related to the lawsuit.

The Iowa Athletics Department is committed to Gender Equity and has a rich history in the success of its women’s sports programs. The University has been, and is committed to continuing to be, in compliance with Title IX. From 2015-2019 the University diligently cooperated with the federal Office for Civil Rights as it conducted an extensive investigation of the Iowa Athletics program. In 2019 OCR confirmed that the program had demonstrated compliance with all aspects of Title IX that it had investigated.

IRVING, Texas – Iowa State women’s basketball guard Lexi Donarski picked up her third Freshman of the Week award, the league announced Monday.

Donarski had the biggest game of her young career, as she dropped 32 points in Iowa State’s win over TCU. Donarski went 10-of-14 from the floor and connected on six treys. Her 32 points marked a school record for points in a game for Iowa State freshmen.

Donarski is averaging 12.7 points on the season, which is the most of any freshman in the Big 12, while shooting 40.9 percent from the field and 42.6 percent from long range.

The honor was the sixth Freshman of the Week honor for the Cyclones this season, as fellow freshmen Emily Ryan (2) and Kylie Feuerbach (1) have also claimed the honors for the Cyclones.

Iowa State returns to the court on Wednesday, Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. to take on Kansas on the road on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.

At the direction of the University of Iowa medical team, the Iowa Athletics Department announced Monday that the Iowa Wrestling program has returned to limited in-person activities, ending a seven-day pause in response to positive COVID-19 test results within the program. Iowa will continue to follow Big Ten Conference medical protocols and the direction of the UI medical team regarding a full-team return to in-person activities.  

Iowa’s dual with Northwestern scheduled for Friday, Feb. 19, has been postponed out of an abundance of caution surrounding the health and safety of the participants. A determination on the Hawkeyes’ dual scheduled at Wisconsin for Sunday, Feb. 21, will be made later this week.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa men’s basketball junior Joe Wieskamp has been named the Big Ten Player of the Week, it was announced Monday by the Big Ten Conference Office.

Wieskamp (6-foot-6, 212 pounds) averaged 23.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, two assists, and one steal in Iowa’s pair of double-digit wins last week over No. 25 Rutgers (79-66) and Michigan State (88-58). The native of Muscatine, Iowa, shot a combined 59 percent from the field (16-of-27), including a blistering 71 percent from 3-point range (10-of-14).

In Iowa’s 13-point triumph over the Scarlet Knights, Wieskamp posted his third double-double of the season and seventh of his career. He led all scorers with 26 points and controlled 10 defensive rebounds. Wieskamp made 64 percent of his total field goal attempts (9-of-14), including 5-of-7 from 3-point territory.

Wieskamp eclipsed 20 points for the second consecutive game in Saturday’s 30-point victory against Michigan State at the Breslin Center, netting a game-best 21 points and grabbing seven defensive rebounds. The 30-point win was Iowa’s largest margin of victory ever in East Lansing and the Spartans’ worst home defeat in 46 years. Once again, Wieskamp was dialed in from distance, sinking five of his seven 3-point attempts.

As a result of Wieskamp’s totals from last week, he is the first junior in program history to amass more than 1,100 points, 500 rebounds, 150 3-pointers, 100 assists, and 75 steals.

No. 11 Iowa (15-6. 9-5) will face No. 21 Wisconsin (15-7, 9-6) on Thursday. Tipoff is slated for 6:01 p.m. (CT) at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa freshman Caitlin Clark was named Big Ten Women’s Basketball Co-Player and Freshman of the Week, the conference announced Monday.

Clark has tallied 16 Big Ten Weekly honors on the season, including 10 freshman honors, four Big Ten Player of the Week honors, and two Player of the Week Honor Roll nods. Clark’s 10 Freshman of the Week honors and four Player of the Week nods tie Big Ten Records. The first Big Ten student-athlete to receive 10 Freshman of the Week awards was Nebraska’s Jessica Shepard during the 2015-16 season. Minnesota’s Amanda Zahui B. is the only other freshman to earn four Player of the Week nods. Her four Big Ten Player of the Week honors as a freshman are believed to be the NCAA record.

Clark recorded her third consecutive and seventh 30-point game of the season against Nebraska. Her seven 30-point games are tied for the most in the NCAA this season. Against the Cornhuskers, Clark’s 39 points earned her a spot in the Nebraska record books, marking the most points scored in Pinnacle Bank Arena — male or female.

Clark is the second freshman since the 2015-16 season to record seven 30-point games – the first was Texas A&M’s Chennedy Carter during the 2017-18 season. Carter played 19 more games than the Hawkeyes have played this season.

The West Des Moines, Iowa, native recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 39 points and 10 rebounds and was three assists shy of a triple double.

Clark now ranks third on Iowa’s all-time freshman scoring list with 451 points on the season. The record holder is Jaime Printy with 501 points during the 2009-10 season. Clark is the first Iowa freshman to record 400-plus points, 100-plus rebounds, and 100-plus assists in a season.

Clark and the Hawkeyes host Penn State on Thursday inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Tip is set for 3 p.m. (CT) on Big Ten Network.

IRVING, Texas (AP) — The Big 12 Conference has altered three men’s basketball games on its schedule this week because of extreme winter weather in the southern Great Plains region that created travel issues. No. 12 Texas will play at No. 9 Oklahoma on Wednesday night after that game was pushed back from its scheduled Tuesday slot. The Longhorns’ game at Iowa State scheduled for Thursday has been postponed.

TCU’s game at No. 15 Texas Tech won’t be played Tuesday night after previously being switched. The Red Raiders and Horned Frogs are still scheduled to play Thursday night in Fort Worth.