# 2018–19 Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball team

The 2018–19 Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball team represented the University of Iowa during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Hawkeyes, led by 19th year head coach Lisa Bluder, played their home games at Carver–Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, IA as members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 29–7, 14–4 in Big Ten play to finish in second place. Iowa won the Big Ten Conference tournament championship game over Maryland, 90–76. They received an automatic bid to the NCAA women's tournament as the No. 2 seed in the Greensboro region where they defeated Mercer and Missouri in the first and second rounds, NC State in the Sweet Sixteen to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1993. They lost to eventual national champion Baylor in the Elite Eight.

## Off-season
### Departures

| Name | # | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Chase Coley | 4 | F | 6'3" | Senior | Minneapolis, MN | Completed college eligibility |
| Jinaya Houston | 14 | G | 6'1" | Freshman | Davenport, IA | Left the sport |
| Carly Mohns | 34 | F | 6'1" | Redshirt Junior | Brodhead, WI | Transferred to University of Wisconsin–Green Bay |

### Recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Monika Czinano P | Watertown, MN | Watertown-Mayer | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | N/A | |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 90 ||||||
| Kate Martin G | Glen Carbon, IL | Edwardsville | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | N/A | May 1, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 90 ||||||
| Logan Cook G | Iowa City, IA | Iowa City West | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | N/A | Aug 1, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 88 ||||||
| Tomi Taiwo G | Fishers, IN | Carmel | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | N/A | |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 88 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2018 Player Commits". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on February 20, 2018. Retrieved May 10, 2024. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/06/2018* 7:00 pm | No. 13 | Dakota Wesleyan | W 102–54 | | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (3,051) Iowa City, IA |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/09/2018* 7:00 pm | No. 13 | Oral Roberts | W 90–77 | 1–0 | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (3,644) Iowa City, IA |
| 11/13/2018* 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | No. 13 | at Western Kentucky | W 104–67 | 2–0 | E. A. Diddle Arena (1,301) Bowling Green, KY |
| 11/17/2018* 7:00 pm | No. 13 | North Carolina Central | W 106–39 | 3–0 | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (3,238) Iowa City, IA |
| 11/23/2018* 4:15 pm | No. 12 | vs. No. 25 West Virginia Junkanoo Jam Bimini Division semifinals | W 84–81 | 4–0 | Gateway Christian Academy Bimini, Bahamas |
| 11/24/2018* 5:45 pm | No. 12 | vs. Florida State Junkanoo Jam Bimini Division championship | L 67–71 | 4–1 | Gateway Christian Academy Bimini, Bahamas |
| 11/29/2018* 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 14 | at No. 1 Notre Dame ACC–Big Ten Women's Challenge | L 71–105 | 4–2 | Edmund P. Joyce Center (7,968) South Bend, IN |
| 12/02/2018* 2:00 pm | No. 14 | Robert Morris | W 92–63 | 5–2 | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (3,457) Iowa City, IA |
| 12/05/2018* 7:00 pm | No. 16 | Iowa State Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series | W 73–70 | 6–2 | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (6,289) Iowa City, IA |
| 12/08/2018* 2:00 pm | No. 16 | IUPUI | W 72–58 | 7–2 | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (3,571) Iowa City, IA |
| 12/16/2018* 2:00 pm | No. 16 | Northern Iowa | W 83–57 | 8–2 | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (6,860) Iowa City, IA |
| 12/21/2018* 6:00 pm | No. 16 | at Drake | W 91–82 | 9–2 | Knapp Center (6,107) Des Moines, IA |
| Big Ten conference season ||||||
| 12/30/2018 12:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 16 | at No. 21 Michigan State | L 70–84 | 9–3 (0–1) | Breslin Center (9,520) East Lansing, MI |
| 01/03/2019 7:00 pm | No. 19 | Nebraska | W 77–71 | 10–3 (1–1) | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (4,391) Iowa City, IA |
| 01/07/2019 7:00 pm | No. 17 | Wisconsin | W 71–53 | 11–3 (2–1) | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (3,428) Iowa City, IA |
| 01/10/2019 7:00 pm, BTN | No. 17 | at Purdue | L 57–62 | 11–4 (2–2) | Mackey Arena (5,843) West Lafayette, IN |
| 01/14/2019 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 22 | at No. 23 Minnesota | W 81–63 | 12–4 (3–2) | Williams Arena (5,439) Minneapolis, MN |
| 01/17/2019 7:00 pm, BTN | No. 22 | Michigan | W 75–61 | 13–4 (4–2) | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (6,287) Iowa City, IA |
| 01/20/2019 2:00 pm | No. 22 | at Illinois | W 94–75 | 14–4 (5–2) | State Farm Center (3,019) Champaign, IL |
| 01/23/2019 7:00 pm | No. 17 | No. 14 Rutgers | W 72–66 | 15–4 (6–2) | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (6,035) Iowa City, IA |
| 01/27/2019 2:00 pm | No. 17 | Purdue | W 72–58 | 16–4 (7–2) | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (9,319) Iowa City, IA |
| 02/01/2019 11:00 am | No. 13 | at Michigan Rescheduled from January 31 | L 81–90 | 16–5 (7–3) | Crisler Center (2,160) Ann Arbor, MI |
| 02/03/2019 1:00 pm | No. 13 | at Penn State | W 81–61 | 17–5 (8–3) | Bryce Jordan Center (2,815) University Park, PA |
| 02/07/2018 8:00 pm, BTN | No. 16 | No. 23 Michigan State | W 86–71 | 18–5 (9–3) | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (6,287) Iowa City, IA |
| 02/10/2019 3:00 pm, BTN | No. 16 | at Ohio State | W 78–52 | 19–5 (10–3) | Value City Arena (5,344) Columbus, OH |
| 02/14/2019 7:00 pm | No. 14 | Illinois | W 88–66 | 20–5 (11–3) | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (6,877) Iowa City, IA |
| 02/17/2019 12:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 14 | No. 7 Maryland | W 86–73 | 21–5 (12–3) | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (10,716) Iowa City, IA |
| 02/21/2019 7:00 pm, BTN | No. 10 | at Indiana | L 73–75 | 21–6 (12–4) | Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (3,812) Bloomington, IN |
| 02/25/2019 7:30 pm, BTN | No. 12 | at Nebraska | W 74–58 | 22–6 (13–4) | Pinnacle Bank Arena (5,071) Lincoln, NE |
| 03/03/2019 3:00 pm, BTN | No. 12 | Northwestern | W 74–50 | 23–6 (14–4) | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (12,051) Iowa City, IA |
| Big Ten Women's Tournament ||||||
| 03/08/2019 5:30 pm, BTN | (2) No. 10 | vs. (10) Indiana Quarterfinals | W 70–61 | 24–6 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN |
| 03/09/2019 7:30 pm, BTN | (2) No. 10 | vs. (3) Rutgers Semifinals | W 72–67 | 25–6 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse (4,414) Indianapolis, IN |
| 03/10/2019 5:00 pm, ESPN2 | (2) No. 10 | vs. (1) No. 8 Maryland Championship Game | W 90–76 | 26–6 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse (4,427) Indianapolis, IN |
| NCAA Women's Tournament ||||||
| 03/22/2019* 1:00 pm, ESPN2 | (2 G) No. 8 | (15 G) Mercer First Round | W 66–61 | 27–6 | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (10,720) Iowa City, IA |
| 03/24/2019* 1:00 pm, ESPN2 | (2 G) No. 8 | (7 G) Missouri Second Round | W 68–52 | 28–6 | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (12,376) Iowa City, IA |
| 03/30/2019* 10:30 am, ESPN | (2 G) No. 8 | vs. (3 G) No. 10 NC State Sweet Sixteen | W 79–61 | 29–6 | Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, NC |
| 04/01/2019* 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | (2 G) No. 8 | vs. (1 G) No. 1 Baylor Elite Eight | L 53–85 | 29–7 | Greensboro Coliseum (4,164) Greensboro, NC |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. G=Greensboro Region. All times are in Central Time. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking Movement Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. :
| Poll | Pre | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Wk 17 | Wk 18 | Wk 19 | Final |
| AP | 13 | 13 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 19 | 17 | 22 | 17 | 13 | 16 | 14 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 8 | N/A |
| Coaches | 17 | 17^ | 14 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 20 | 17 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 16 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 8 |
^Coaches did not release a Week 2 poll.

## 2019 WNBA Draft

| Round | Pick | Player | WNBA Club |
| 2 | 17 | Megan Gustafson | Dallas Wings |