The Drake women pulled away in the second half to post an 83-65 season opening win at Eastern Illinois Monday afternoon. The Bulldogs limited the Panthers to 39 percent shooting and also won the rebounding battle 50-26.

That’s Drake coach Allison Pohlman. Senior guard Abbie Aalsma and freshman guard Anna Becker both had 22 points as the Bulldogs overcame a slow start.

The 14th ranked Iowa State women used a 19-0 second quarter run to take command in a season opening 85-36 win over St. Thomas in Hilton Coliseum. Audi Crooks led the way with 20 points. Junior forward Addy Brown had 11 points as 12 different Cyclones got into the scoring column.

Brown likes the chemistry that the Cyclones are developing.

UNI football coach Todd Stepsis says his team is making progress, even though it has not shown up in the win column. After a loss at Illinois State, the Panthers take an 0-5 Missouri Valley record into Saturday’s game at home against Murray State.

Stepsis continues to be proud of the effort despite a string of losses.

UNI is 2-7 overall. Murray State is 0-5 in the Valley and 0-9 overall.

The Racers are the first unranked team the Panthers have played in more than a month but Stepsis warns there is not a big drop in the level of talent.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa field hockey junior Dionne van Aalsum has been named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week for the third time this season, the conference office announced Monday.

This marks her seventh career Offensive Player of the Week honor, which gives her the most offensive or defensive weekly awards by a Hawkeye.

Her 11 total weekly honors (seven offensive, four freshman) are the most in Iowa field hockey history and are tied for second-most all-time among Big Ten players with Northwestern’s Bente Baekers. She trails Northwestern’s Chelsea Armstrong (13).

Van Aalsum scored three goals, including the game winner as Iowa defeated Ohio State in double overtime. She leads the nation in goals (26), goals per game (1.63), points (54) and points per game (3.38).

The Castricum, Netherlands, native leads all active Division I players with 63 career goals in 53 games. She is the only player in the top 10 with fewer than 55 games played. She also leads in points per game.

Iowa (12-4) travels to Bloomington, Indiana, to face Indiana on Thursday at 4 p.m. (CT) in the Big Ten Tournament.

IOWA CITY, Iowa – A new in-seat beverage service will be available in Carver-Hawkeye Arena for the 2025-26 University of Iowa men’s and women’s basketball seasons, it was announced Monday by the University of Iowa Athletics Department.

The in-seat service will be offered exclusively to fans sitting courtside and in padded seats within the lower bowl of the arena.

Fans throughout the arena will be able to purchase drinks from roaming hawkers, who will serve the general public until all services halt at the beginning of the fourth quarter for women’s games and at the under-12 media timeout for men’s contests.

Fans can also purchase beverages and limited concessions at a walk-up stand at the south end of the playing court.

A QR code will be affixed directly to seats in the lower bowl of the arena where the service is available.

The Iowa women’s team opens its season on Monday, hosting Southern at 6:30 p.m. (CT), while the Hawkeye men will host Robert Morris in its season opener at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

IOWA CITY, Iowa – University of Iowa senior Bennett Stirtz has been named to the 2025-26 Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy Men’s College Player of the Year Watch List presented by AXIA Time, it was announced Monday by the Atlanta Tipoff Club/Naismith Awards.

It is the second preseason Player of the Year preseason nod for Stirtz as he was named to the NABC watch list on Friday.

The Liberty, Missouri, native has also been named a preseason All-American by CBS Sports (second team), Field of 68 (second team), Jon Rothstein (second team), Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook (fourth team) and Jay Bilas (honorable mention).  He is also on the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Watch List.

Stirtz, who is in his first season as a Hawkeye, was an All-American by three outlets during the 2024-25 season at Drake.  He was also tabbed as the Missouri Valley Conference Larry Bird Player of the Year and Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Year.

He led the MVC in scoring (19.2), steals (2.21) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.86), while ranking second in assists (5.7).  He also led the NCAA in minutes played, averaging 39:22 per game.

Stirtz is one of 13 players from the Big Ten Conference on the list, along with Oregon’s Nate Bittle, Wisconsin’s John Blackwell, UCLA’s Donovan Dent, Indiana’s Tucker DeVries, Illinois’ Ivisic Tomislav, Purdue’s Trey Kaufman-Renn, Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg, Northwestern’s Nick Martinelli, Oregon’s Jackson Shelstad, Purdue’s Braden Smith, Illinois’ Andrej Stojakovic and Ohio State’s Bruce Thornton.

The Hawkeyes host Robert Morris on Tuesday in their season opener at 7:30 p.m. (CT) on Mediacom Court inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The game will be televised on BTN.

Tickets are available at  hawkeyesports.com/tickets.

First Team
Sydney Sommers (Riverside)
Bentley Rone (Riverside)
Harlow Miller (Audubon)
Addisyn Bandow (IKM – Manning)
Sophia Fenner (Riverside)
Keagan Eisheid (IKM – Manning)
Carly Nelson (Underwood)

Second Team
Harlie Leaders (Tri – Center)
Rylee Hemmingsen (Treynor)
Khloee Stoops (Missouri Valley)
Lillian Reed (Riverside)
Dilynn Myler (Missouri Valley)
Lindsey Kastner (Loma)
Karlee Arp (IKM – Manning)
Bella Klutts (Loma)
Ashley Kelley (Riverside)

Honorable Mention
Madison Kelley (Riverside)
Tess Casey (Tri – Center)
Anna Stangle (IKM – Manning)
Ava Sloan (Loma)
Hailey Ambrose (Underwood)
Kendra Hansen (AHSTW)
Anna Larsen (Audubon)
Shaylee Smith (Tryenor)
Claire Myler (Missouri Valley)

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Oregon-Iowa football game scheduled for Nov. 8 in Iowa City is officially sold out, the announcement was made Monday by the Iowa Athletics Ticket Office.

Iowa has sold out its first six home games in 2025. Tickets remain for the home finale versus Michigan State on Nov. 22.

The game against the Ducks will be Iowa’s 26th consecutive sellout inside Kinnick Stadium dating back to the start of the 2022 season. Start time and television information for this contest will be announced this weekend.

Tickets are only sold and issued by the UI Athletics Ticket Office and its authorized agents. Persons buying tickets from other entities do so at their own risk. Fans should use caution if buying tickets from unauthorized outlets and are strongly encouraged to use SeatGeek, the official fan to fan marketplace of Hawkeyes, for sold out events.

The UI Athletic Ticket Office is only able to service/support purchases made through that office, or on SeatGeek. Iowa Athletics reserves the right to cancel any ticket purchases, less fees, made for the purpose of resale without notification.

All tickets for University of Iowa athletic events are distributed electronically and should be downloaded to a smartphone device. If you do not have access to a smartphone, please contact the ticket office to make arrangements.

Champaign, Ill. – University of Iowa volleyball took down Illinois in five sets on Sunday afternoon inside a sold-out Huff Hall. It is Iowa’s first win in Champaign since 2005 and first over the Illini since 2016. The Hawkeyes improve to 13-11 overall and 4-8 in the Big Ten.

The Hawkeyes claimed the first two sets, 25-19 and 25-22. Illinois forced a fifth set after winning the third and fourth sets, 25-19 and 25-15. Iowa secured the decider, 15-10.

Iowa’s win was its third five-set victory of the season. The Hawkeyes improved to 11-1 when winning the first set.

Redshirt sophomore Alyssa Worden recorded her fourth-straight double-double in the victory. Worden tallied 14 digs and 11 kills and hit at a .320 clip. Senior setter Claire Ammeraal closed in on a double-double with 53 assists and nine digs.

Iowa continued to utilize all options in the front row, with four Hawkeyes in double-digit kill figures. Graduate Chard’e Vanzandt led the team with 19 kills. She also added seven digs and four blocks. Junior Hannah Whittingstall terminated 13 kills and hit a team-high .333. The reigning league defensive player of the week had a team-best five blocks in the win. Freshman Carmel Vares made an impact at the pin with 11 kills on 26 swings, good for a .308 hitting percentage.

As a team, Iowa held the advantage in most statistical categories, recording more kills (63-56), a higher hitting percentage (.242 – .196), more assists (58-50) and more blocks (9.0-7.0). From the service line, each team had nine service errors, but Illinois held the advantage in aces (9-2).

Up Next: Iowa (13-11, 4-8 B1G) travels to No. 24 Indiana on Friday night in Bloomington. First serve is scheduled for 5 p.m. (CT) inside Wilkinson Hall. The match will be streamed on B1G+ and the Hawkeye Radio Network.