Iowa took the lead for good with an 8-2 run midway through the second half, Tuesday night, and held off Rutgers 68-62 in Iowa City. Bennett Stirtz had 20 points and freshman Tate Sage had a season high 17 as the Hawkeyes move to 4-4 in the Big Ten.

The Hawkeyes are 14-5 overall and will be off until hosting USC next Wednesday.

Iowa led by seven at halftime before Rutgers opened the second half with a 9-0 run and it was close the rest of the way.

That’s Iowa coach Ben McCollum who says the Hawkeyes can’t win game on just talent.

McCollum on his plan for the next week without a game.

Ninth ranked Iowa State snapped a two-game losing skid in convincing fashion. The Cyclones raced out to an 18-point halftime lead and rolled to an 87-57 win over Central Florida in Ames. Joshua Jefferson had a triple-double with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists.

The Cyclones improve to 17-2 overall and 4-2 in the Big 12.

The Cyclones shot 51 percent for the game and had 22 assists.

That’s ISU coach T.J. Otzelberger. The Cyclones scored 31 points off 19 UCF turnovers.

For the first time during Jan Jensen’s tenure the Iowa Hawkeye women are ranked in the nation’s top ten. The Hawkeyes are 10th in the latest AP Poll heading into Thursday night’s game at 15th ranked Maryland.

The Hawkeyes are 16-2 overall and 7-0 in the Big Ten.

Iowa State women’s coach Bill Fennelly says junior guard Arianna Jackson could return for Wednesday night’s game at home against Cincinnati. Jackson missed the last three games after suffering a knee injury late in a 71-63 loss at Cincinnati back on January seventh.

Jackson’s return would be a boost for a Cyclone team that has lost five straight games and is also missing junior forward Addy Brown.

With Brown and Jackson sidelined the Cyclones are searching for an identity.

Cincinnati is the first opponent the Cyclones will play for a second time and Fennelly says that will alter the preparation.

The teams met only two weeks ago.

Hawkeye Ten Conference 

Kuemper Catholic – 88 vs Harlan – 45

Western Iowa Conference 

Audubon – 78 vs Missouri Valley – 56

Non-Conference 

ACGC – 69 vs CAM – 54

Tri-Center – 75 vs Shenandoah – 59

St. Albert – 68 vs AHSTW – 37

Boyer Valley – 52 vs Logan-Magnolia – 43

Decorah – 53 vs Lewis Central – 51

GIRLS

Hawkeye Ten Conference 

Kuemper Catholic – 58 vs Harlan – 46

Corner Conference Tournament 

Sidney – 39 vs Griswold – 33

Bedford – 50 vs Stanton – 43

East Mills – 67 vs Hamburg – 4

Fremont-Mills – 68 Essex – 19

Non-Conference 

ACGC – 61 vs CAM – 41

St. Albert – 69 vs AHSTW – 21

Shenandoah – 52 vs Tri-Center – 27

Despite a hard-fought effort, the Griswold Tigers fell in the opening round of the Corner Coner Conference Tournament 39-33 to the Sidney Cowgirls Monday night. Griswold’s defense was excellent. Playing a high-pressure style, they consistently forced turnovers all night. At times, Sidney struggled to get across center court. When they controlled play, the Tigers were able to turn that defense into offense. The problem was that the offense wasn’t always on. It was a game of momentum waves as each team had stretches of great play followed by stretches of drought. Unfortunately for Griswold it was Sidney that had the momentum late and rode that push to victory.

The opening quarter was a strong start for Griswold. Although both teams came up empty on their first few possessions, it was Griswold that found the offense first. Four different Tigers got on the scoresheet as Amanda Houser led the way with four points while Carsyn Adams added a three to help build a five-point cushion by the end of the frame. Despite the great start, the momentum flipped in the second quarter. Griswold’s defense was still an issue for the Cowgirls; however, they found a way to be productive, Addyson Foster (who led Sidney with 8 points) had her most productive quarter, draining two from beyond the arc that made a big difference. At the same time, the Griswold offense went quiet. The Tigers scored just one point on a Houser free throw as despite the good defense, Griswold found themselves down 15-12 at the half.

The Tigers didn’t roar out of the gate in the second half, but their defense continued to keep the game within reach, which what the Tigers up for another takeover. Halfway through the third quarter, the Tigers offense started to connect again. The Tigers hit five threes in the second half all of which came in their stretch of control that extended into the early part of the fourth. Adams and Brystol Wyman each had two, as they tied for the game lead in points. However, three minutes into the fourth, the momentum switched again. Similarly to the second quarter, Sidney stepped up at the same time the Griswold offense went dry. The Cowgirls ended the game on an 11-0 run as their size in the paint shown through.

Ultimately, Griswold did a lot of good things, especially on the defensive side of the ball. However, they were unable to consistently produce on offense to reel back in the momentum that Sidney had. Head coach Aaron Houser was pleased with his team’s defensive effort

He was also proud of the fact that Adams’ and Wyman’s work on long range shooting paid off.

However, the difference in the game was the lack of consistent offense but Houser believes this effort can only help the Tigers grow.

Moving forward, he wants to see more of what he saw in this game.

The loss drops Griswold to 5-8 on the season. The Tigers will be back at home on Wednesday when they take on Stanton. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 pm in Griswold.

After snapping a three game losing skid with a convincing win at Indiana the Iowa Hawkeyes host Rutgers on Tuesday night. The Hawkeyes are 3-4 in the league race. Rutgers is 2-5.

That’s Iowa coach Ben McCollum, who is confident the Hawkeyes won’t overlook the Scarlet Knights.

McCollum was happy with the ways his team bounced back from a three game losing skid.

Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger says the focus has been on fundamentals as the Cyclones get ready for Tuesday night’s game at home against Central Florida. After a 16-0 start, The Cyclones dropped road games at Kansas and Cincinnati and have fallen seven spots to ninth in the latest AP Top 25.

Otzelberger says the Cyclones need to get back to things that had them winning.

Otzelberger says part of their issues is playing in the Big 12.

Otzelberger says the challenges ahead in Big 12 play are not getting any easier.

Like the Cyclones, Central Florida is 3-2 after a home loss to top ranked Arizona.

Otzelberger says it will take a big effort to get the win.

Senior guard Nate Heise says the struggles of last week were more about what the Cyclones did not do than what the opponents were doing.

Heise says the defensive intensity slipped last week.

Heise says the problems on defense have hurt the offensive end of the court.

IOWA CITY, Iowa –The University of Iowa women’s gymnastics team picked up a Big Ten victory over No. 17 Michigan State, 196.400-195.675 for the first time since 2023 (five matchups) on Saturday evening at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The Hawkeyes took event wins in vault (49.200), bars (49.125) and beam (49.025).  Iowa secured four individual event titles. Sophomore Aurélie Tran shined taking two individual event titles, vault (9.875) and bars (9.925). Fifth-year JerQuavia Henderson and sophomore Sydney Turner shared an individual title on beam posting 9.825. Henderson secured first place in the all-around scoring 39.375.

Freshman Sophie Schriever took second in her all-around debut with a 39.250 score.

VAULT
The GymHawks kicked off the meet with a season-high 49.200 on vault to lead the competition. Tran led the lineup with a 9.875, matching her career best. Henderson and Turner followed closely behind with a 9.850, to tie for second place.  Schriever contributed a career best of 9.825. Seniors Hanna Castillo and Avery Chambers posted a 9.800 and 9.775, respectively, to help the Hawkeyes sweep the top of the podium in the event.

BARS
Iowa earned a 49.125 on bars, highlighted by Tran’s season best 9.925 in the anchor position, securing the individual event title.  Senior Gianna Masella, freshman Daisy Bowles, Henderson and Schriever followed with matching scores of 9.800. Iowa continued their lead at the halfway mark, 98.325- 97.550.

BEAM
The momentum continued in the third rotation, where the GymHawks scored a season best 49.025 on beam. Henderson and Turner tied for first at 9.825, a career-high for Turner. Junior Eva Volpe and Schriever both contributed 9.800. Freshman Maggie Ball posted a career best, 9.775. Tran added a 9.750, to keep the Hawkeyes in the lead, heading into the final rotation.

FLOOR
Iowa closed the meet on beam, tallying a team score of 49.050. Henderson led the way with a 9.900, placing second overall. Senior Emily Erb contributed 9.850, to take third place. Schriever scored a career best 9.825, while Castillo posted 9.800.

HEAR FROM HEAD COACH JEN LLEWELLYN
“It feels amazing to get a win against Michigan State; they are an incredible team with a lot of success, and I think it was good for our team to get that confidence and know they are capable of competing against anyone in the country. Especially through a little bit of adversity throughout the entire meet, they stayed steady and focused on doing their gymnastics to the best of their ability. We finally hit beam like we knew we were capable of, which was a huge relief, and once they settled in and trusted themselves on floor, they came out strong.”

UP NEXT
The nationally ranked Hawkeyes will travel to Ann Arbor, Michigan on Jan. 24 to face the No. 5 Michigan Wolverines.  Action inside of Crisler Center will begin at 3 p.m. (C.T) and will be streamed on B1G+ (subscription required).

GREENVILLE, S.C. – The University of Iowa women’s tennis team opened the 2026 season with a 4-1 victory over Furman on Saturday morning at the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center.

Furman opened the match by claiming the doubles point. On court one, No. 16 Sasha Dimitrov and Lillie Murphy defeated Daianne Hayashida and Mia Mack, 6-1 and Bianca Ceroni and Elle Warren followed on court two with a 6-2 win over Pia Kranholdt and Emma Tothová to clinch the point.

The Hawkeyes responded by winning four singles matches to secure the dual. Kranholdt earned Iowa’s first point with a 6-4, 6-0 victory over Dimitrov on court four. Hayashida followed on court one, defeating Warren, 6-1, 6-4.

Tothová extended the Hawkeyes lead to 3-1 with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Hitchcock on court three.

Mack, who joined the team in January, clinched the victory on court two with a hard-fought 7-6 (2), 2-6, 6-4 win over Murphy.

The remaining singles matches were left unfinished. On court five, Ceroni held a 6-4, 2-4 lead over Vishwase, while Robinson was leading Xu, 6-3, 2-2.