IOWA CITY, Iowa – The University of Iowa women’s basketball finalized its 2024-25 schedule Thursday when the 18-game Big Ten Conference slate was released live on BTN Today.

2024-25 SCHEDULE NOTES
– The Hawkeyes will play back-to-back road games (at Oregon (1/19) and Washington (1/22); at Minnesota (2/6) and Nebraska (2/10) twice during the regular season.
– Iowa will play on New Year’s Day at Penn State. It is the team’s first game on New Year’s Day since 2023.
– The start and end of Iowa’s conference slate is balanced with two away/home contests.
– The Hawkeyes will host their first three conference games on Sundays (Purdue (12/29), Maryland (1/5) and Indiana (1/12).
– Six of Iowa’s nine Big Ten home games will be played on Sundays.

The Hawkeyes are coming off a season where they won a school-record 34 games, claimed a Big Ten Tournament title and advanced to the NCAA Championship game for a second consecutive season. Iowa returns a pair of starters in 2024-25 under P. Sue Beckwith, MD, Head Women’s Basketball Coach Jan Jensen, who is in her first season as head coach.

Game times and television info will be released in the coming weeks. The Iowa Athletics Department anticipates a season long sellout for women’s basketball. Donors and season ticket deposit holders are currently being contacted.

2024-25 SCHEDULE
Oct. 30 – Missouri Western (Exh.)
Nov. 6 – Northern Illinois
Nov. 10 – vs. Virginia Tech (Charlotte)
Nov. 13 – Toledo
Nov. 17 – at Drake
Nov. 20 – vs. Kansas (Sioux Falls)
Nov. 24 – Washington State
Nov. 28 – vs. Rhode Island (Cancun)
Nov. 29 – BYU (Cancun)
Dec. 7 – vs. Tennessee (Brooklyn)
Dec. 11 – Iowa State
Dec. 15 – at Michigan State
Dec. 20 – Northern Iowa
Dec. 29 – Purdue
Jan. 1 – at Penn State
Jan. 5 – Maryland
Jan. 9 – at Illinois
Jan. 12 – Indiana
Jan. 16 – Nebraska
Jan. 19 – at Oregon
Jan. 22 – at Washington
Jan. 28 – Northwestern
Feb. 2 – USC
Feb. 6 – at Minnesota
Feb. 10 – at Nebraska
Feb. 13 – Rutgers
Feb. 17 – at Ohio State
Feb. 23 – UCLA
Feb. 26 – at Michigan
Mar. 2 – Wisconsin

The 2-1 Winterset Huskies football team are taking on the 4-0 Atlantic Trojans Friday night in Winterset. The Huskies are recently coming off a 28-26 physical win against Carlisle, but also have a 31-6 victory against Creston, and a 31-9 loss to ADM. Those first three games of the year really helped Winterset Head Coach Zach Sweeney understand the strengths of his Huskies squad and pushed them to be better.

A key factor to Winterset’s two victories is the dual threat ability of senior quarterback Hunter Lyon. Lyon has thrown for 522 yards and 3 touchdowns and on the ground, Lyon has scrambled for two scores. His versatility and persistence have credited praise from Coach Sweeney.

Defensively the Huskies have seen great effort from junior Wyatt Swanson and senior Gavin Day who both have collected two interceptions through three games. Winterset’s leading tackler is a hard hitting junior named Jace Bellamy and Bellamy has 23.5 tackles so far into the season. Coach Sweeney likes the consistent tenacity from his defense and labels it as a strength for Winterset this year.

Next up for Winterset is a steadfast Atlantic team that continues to count on its overwhelming run game for success. Senior running back Tyson O’Brien is the leading rusher for Atlantic with 780 yards and five touchdowns through 95 carries. In the backfield with O’Brien is the strong junior fullback Gavin McLaren with his 37 carries, 257 yards, and seven scores. Those two combined with sophomore Ethan McNeal’s 153 yards on the ground have created a run game that most squads struggle with.

Coach Sweeney is keeping it simple for his team heading into Friday as he wants his defense to limit turnovers and focus on stopping the Trojans run game.

KJAN and KJANTV will have the broadcast for Friday’s matchup with the pregame show beginning at 6:30 PM and kickoff is at 7:00 PM.

Iowa’s offense has made progress in three games but faces a big test in Saturday’s Big Ten opener at Minnesota. It’s early but after ranking at or near the bottom of the country in total offense the past few years Iowa is currently 53rd. Quarterback Cade McNamara.

The Hawkeyes have been much better this season on third down.

One part of the offense that the Hawkeyes hope to get going is tight end. Senior standout Luke Lachey only has nine catches in three games and has yet to score a touchdown.

Iowa State defensive back Jontez Williams says the Cyclones are not focused on their role as heavy favorite entering Saturday’s game against Arkansas State. The 20th ranked Cyclones are a better than three touchdown favorite against a Red Wolves team that is 2-1 after a 28-18 loss at Michigan.

The task for the defense this week is to slow down Arkansas State dual threat quarterback Jaylen Raynor. The sophomore has passed for more than 700 yards and also has two rushing touchdowns.

It has been next man up at linebacker for the Cyclones at a position that has been hit with injuries. Sophomore Kooper Ebel  made his first start in a 20-19 win at Iowa and finished with six tackles.

Ebel says the injured players are still having an impact.

Two of the contenders collide the opening week of the American Rivers Conference football race when 13th ranked Wartburg visits Central. Wartburg is coming off its first regular season loss since 2021 with a 35-13 setback at St. Johns of Minnesota.

That’s Wartburg coach Chris Winter who says the defense will face a similar challenge against Central.

It is always a big game when these two teams meet.

Central coach Jeff McMartin says the Knights have an experienced team.

McMartin says Wartburg has the ability to change the game on special teams.