No. 13 Iowa (21-5, 12-3) defeated Purdue (12-13, 4-11) inside Mackey Arena on Thursday night.

Iowa’s Ava Heiden drives (5) to the basket against Purdue on Feb. 19, 2026, in West Lafayette, Ind. (Photo/Brian Ray,HawkeyeSports.com)

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Ava Heiden scored 21 points and tallied a double-double to lead No. 13 Iowa 83-74 over Purdue on Thursday.

Heiden was a ruthlessly efficient 10-of-12 shooting for the Hawkeyes (21-5, 12-3 Big Ten). She added 13 rebounds, three assists and three steals. Taylor Stremlow had 19 points, going 7 of 10, and dishing eight assists. Journey Houston scored 16 to go with five rebounds.

The Hawkeyes shot 59 percent (32-of-54) and 47 percent from beyond the arc (9-of-19). The win was the 10th in a row for the Hawkeyes over the Boilermakers (12-14, 4-11). It broke a deadlock in the historical series, giving Iowa a 41-40 lead.

Nya Smith scored 19 and Kiki Smith had 17 for the Boilermakers, with Nya Smith adding five rebounds and five assists. Tara Daye had 15 points and seven rebounds, and Kendall Puryear scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

The Hawkeyes took a 51-32 lead into the halftime break after an early 11-2 run was followed by a 20-1 run later in the half. Stremlow scored all 19 of her points in the first half on 7 of 8 shooting and 5 of 5 from behind the arc. Heiden had 12 in the second half, and her pair of jumpers to open the second half built a game-high 23-point lead for the Hawkeyes.

A late 7-0 run from the Boilermakers inside the final two minutes made the final score a bit closer than the double-digit margin it was for the majority of the second half.

IOWA INDIVIDUAL NOTES
– Taylor Stremlow notched 19 points (5-6 3FG), eight assists, and three rebounds.
– Stremlow registered her career-high for the second consecutive game with 4:36 to go in the second quarter. (19)
– Over the last two games, Stremlow is 8-of-10 from 3-point range.
– She also tied her career-high in assists. 
– Stremlow made her third consecutive start and 10th of the year. 
– The Hawkeyes are 10-0 in such games when Stremlow is in the starting lineup this season.  
– Ava Heiden recorded 21 points (10-12 FG), 13 rebounds, three assists, and three steals. 
– It was Heiden’s seventh career double-double and third with 20+ points. 
– Heiden has reached double figures in 14 straight games and against all 14 Big Ten opponents played this season.
– Heiden has scored 20+ points a team-best nine times this season. 
– Chit-Chat Wright had six points and seven assists. 
– It was Wright’s fourth game of the last five with 7+ assists. 
– Journey Houston recorded 16 points, five rebounds, and two assists. 
– Houston tied her career-high in points. 
– All of Houston’s seven career games in double figures have come against Big Ten competition. 
– Houston made her first career start as a Hawkeye with Hannah Stuelke sidelined with an upper body injury. 
– Kylie Feuerbach registered 10 points and two assists.
– Feuerbach has two or more 3-point field goals five times this season and has reached double figures in four games.

TEAM NOTES
– Iowa started two freshmen and two sophomores for the first time in the Jan Jensen era.
– It was Iowa’s youngest starting lineup since Caitlin Clark (Fr.), Gabbie Marshall (So.), Kate Martin (RS-So.), and McKenna Warnock (So.) started against UConn in the Sweet 16 on March 27, 2021. (169 games)
– In the first quarter, the Hawkeyes shot a season-high 80 percent from the field. (12-15)
– The Hawkeyes have won the last 10 meetings against the Boilermakers.
– Iowa leads the all-time series, 41-40.
– The Hawkeyes are 23-2 when scoring 80+ points over the last two seasons.
– Iowa has dished out 20+ assists in nine out of their last 10 games. 
– Jensen is just two wins shy of 46 wins in her first two seasons which would be the most by an Iowa women’s basketball coach in program history. (Angie Lee, 45)

Up Next

No. 13 Iowa will host No. 6 Michigan on Sunday.

Purdue will travel to face No. 14 Maryland on Sunday.