What went wrong for Iowa in stunning second-round upset in NCAA Tournament? And what’s next for Hawkeyes?

As time expired in the first overtime Monday afternoon, Chit-Chat Wright drove into the paint, collapsed the defense and sent the ball to Taylor Stremlow in the left corner. The sophomore’s potential game-winning 3-pointer caught every part of the rim, but instead of falling through the net and sending No. 2 Iowa to the Sweet 16, it burst.

The miss summed up a heartbreaking day for the Hawkeyes, who then lost 83-75 in double overtime to No. 10 Virginia in the second round of the 2026 NCAA women’s basketball tournament. For the second year in a row, Iowa’s season ended before the second weekend.

Icy shooting condemns the Hawkeyes

Stremlow’s miss, one of 24 3-pointers for the Hawkeyes, highlighted a frigid two-game stretch for one of the best shooting teams in the country.

During the regular season and Big Ten tournament, the Hawkeyes shot 36.2 percent from 3-point range, good for 21st in the nation. In their two tournament matches, they shot 14.3%. Among teams that played at least two games, only Baylor (11.4%) was worse.

Iowa went 1 of 13 from behind the arc in the first round while narrowly avoiding an upset against No. 15 Fairleigh Dickinson, then went 5 of 29 against Virginia.

Wright, the team’s leading 3-point shooter averaging 44.7 percent on five attempts per game, finished 4 of 13 from behind the arc in both games. The rest of the team was 2 of 29. Stremlow, the No. 2 3-point threat, was 1 of 10 against Virginia and 1 of 12 for the tournament.

The 3-point revolution has yet to impact women’s college soccer in the same way it has the NBA or WNBA, but it’s still extremely difficult to win when you shoot 3-pointers that poorly – especially when you can’t physically overwhelm the opponent like Iowa did in the first round. On Monday, Virginia did not have an exceptional shooting performance (9 of 27, 33%), but the Cavaliers still dominated the Hawkeyes by 12 behind the arc, which helped make up for their 20 turnovers.

“[Virginia] played really well. But with us, I think we took 20 more shots and we couldn’t win. I think we out-rebounded them,” Iowa coach Jan Jensen said. “All the things you should do. But when you look at the categories that need to happen, free throws, shooting percentage, it hurts because those things are a little more controllable. »

Iowa also had a brutal performance from the free throw line on Monday and throughout the tournament, although that wasn’t as surprising as its poor 3-point shooting. The Hawkeyes shot just 68.5 percent from the line (278th in the nation) in the regular season and Big Ten Tournament. In their two tournament matches, they were even worse: 55.5%.

The Hawkeyes were 8 of 16 in the first round and 17 of 29 in the second round. Once again, it’s difficult to succeed when you leave so many points on the line.

Notably, just before Stremlow’s devastating miss, Wright had the chance to put the game on the line in the first overtime. After a review with 22 seconds remaining, a foul on Virginia was upgraded to flagrant, giving Iowa two free throws and the ball in a tie game. Wright made 1 of 2 on flagrant free throws, then, when Virginia fouled to stop the clock on the ensuing possession, he made 1 of 2 again. Virginia came down on the other end and tied the game.

Hawkeyes have bright future after exceeding expectations

Iowa entered the second season of its post-Caitlin Clark and Lisa Bluder rebuild ranked 21st in the nation and projected to finish outside the Big Ten’s top five (the conference has not released full preseason projections).

The Hawkeyes ended up going 24-5 in the regular season, reached the Big Ten Tournament championship, were ranked No. 7 in the final AP poll and earned the No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament. Monday’s loss was a disappointing end to a successful season, in which the Hawkeyes far exceeded expectations.

Iowa will lose key seniors Hannah Stuelke, Kylie Feuerbach and Taylor McCabe (who tore her ACL in January), but the future is bright in Iowa City.

“Well, obviously we had a really great year that ended in a really disappointing way. You know, I’ll also have to remember all the good things that happened during that year because when an ending happens like this, it’s always hard to remember,” Jensen said.

Three of the Hawkeyes’ starters were sophomores – Wright, Stremlow and Ava Heiden – and together they accounted for 48.4 percent of the team’s scoring this season. Heiden was the leading scorer with 17.8 points per game, Wright led the team in assists and 3-pointers made and Stremlow was second in assists and 3-pointers made.

Add in a highly touted freshman class that includes Addie Deal, Journey Houston and Layla Hays, as well as five-star recruit McKenna Woliczko, and there will still be plenty of talent in Iowa City next season for Jensen. That’s if she can’t find additional help on the transfer portal.