# 1987–88 Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball team

The 1987–88 Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball team represented the University of Iowa as members of the Big Ten Conference during the 1987–88 NCAA women's basketball season. The Hawkeyes, led by fifth-year head coach C. Vivian Stringer, played their home games in Iowa City, Iowa at Carver–Hawkeye Arena. They finished the season 29–2 overall, 17–1 in Big Ten play, winning the conference championship. The team finished with the highest final ranking of any Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball team at No. 2 in the final AP poll. For the second straight season, Iowa advanced to the Elite Eight in the women's NCAA basketball tournament.
With big expectations entering the season, the Hawkeyes were ranked No. 6 in the preseason AP poll – the lowest ranking they would have all year. The team won its first 22 games, including victories over five top 10 teams, highlighted by takedowns of No. 2 Auburn and No. 1 Texas in the Orange Bowl tournament in Miami. The Hawkeyes themselves rose to the No. 1 ranking, a first ever for a Big Ten women's program, a perch they would hold onto for eight weeks. Iowa's lone regular season loss was a 58–54 setback at No. 8 Ohio State. The Hawkeyes finished the regular season 27–1 (17–1 Big Ten).
Ranked No. 2 in the final three AP polls, the Hawkeyes received the No. 1 seed in the West region of the NCAA tournament. Iowa defeated No. 8 seed, 19th ranked Stephen F. Austin and No. 4 seed, 15th ranked USC to reach the regional final. Iowa faced a team they defeated earlier in the season, No. 2 seed and 7th ranked Cal State Long Beach, but were beaten by 20 points in a virtual home game for the team from Long Beach.
Senior guard Michelle Edwards would be the first Iowa women's basketball player to have her number retired in 1990.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 28, 1987* | No. 6 | Missouri Amana-Hawkeye Classic | W 85–71 | 1–0 | Carver-Hawkeye Arena (1,588) Iowa City, Iowa |
| Nov 29, 1987* | No. 6 | Georgia Amana-Hawkeye Classic | W 66–56 | 2–0 | Carver-Hawkeye Arena (2,097) Iowa City, Iowa |
| Dec 1, 1987* | No. 6 | at Iowa State | W 93–49 | 3–0 | Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa |
| Dec 5, 1987* | No. 6 | vs. No. 4 Long Beach State NIU Fastbreak Festival | W 82–75 | 4–0 | Evans Field House DeKalb, Illinois |
| Dec 6, 1987* | No. 6 | at Northern Illinois NIU Fastbreak Festival | W 81–73 | 5–0 | Evans Field House DeKalb, Illinois |
| Dec 11, 1987* | No. 5 | Nebraska | W 68–58 | 6–0 | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa |
| Dec 28, 1987* | No. 5 | vs. No. 2 Auburn Burger King/Orange Bowl Tournament | W 73–69 | 7–0 | James L. Knight International Center Miami, Florida |
| Dec 29, 1987* | No. 5 | vs. No. 6 Virginia Burger King/Orange Bowl Tournament | W 75–59 | 8–0 | James L. Knight International Center Miami, Florida |
| Dec 30, 1987* | No. 5 | vs. No. 1 Texas Burger King/Orange Bowl Tournament | W 75–65 | 9–0 | James L. Knight International Center Miami, Florida |
| Jan 8, 1988 | No. 1 | at Wisconsin | W 81–71 | 10–0 (1–0) | Wisconsin Field House Madison, Wisconsin |
| Jan 10, 1988 | No. 1 | at Northwestern | W 81–43 | 11–0 (2–0) | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa |
| Jan 15, 1988 | No. 1 | at Minnesota | W 84–41 | 12–0 (3–0) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Jan 22, 1988 | No. 1 | at Illinois | W 90–63 | 13–0 (4–0) | Assembly Hall Champaign, Illinois |
| Jan 9, 1988 | No. 1 | at Purdue | W 67–57 | 14–0 (5–0) | Mackey Arena West Lafayette, Indiana |
| Jan 29, 1988 | No. 1 | Indiana | W 72–48 | 15–0 (6–0) | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa |
| Jan 31, 1988 | No. 1 | No. 8 Ohio State | W 75–64 | 16–0 (7–0) | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa |
| Feb 2, 1988 | No. 1 | at Michigan State | W 77–52 | 17–0 (8–0) | Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, Michigan |
| Feb 5, 1988 | No. 1 | at Michigan | W 89–54 | 18–0 (9–0) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Feb 12, 1988 | No. 1 | Minnesota | W 100–51 | 19–0 (10–0) | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa |
| Feb 16, 1988* | No. 1 | Drake | W 74–38 | 20–0 | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa |
| Feb 19, 1988 | No. 1 | Purdue | W 66–52 | 21–0 (11–0) | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa |
| Feb 21, 1988 | No. 1 | Illinois | W 87–36 | 22–0 (12–0) | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa |
| Feb 26, 1988 | No. 1 | at No. 8 Ohio State | L 54–58 | 22–1 (12–1) | St. John Arena Columbus, Ohio |
| Feb 28, 1988 | No. 1 | at Indiana | W 71–47 | 23–1 (13–1) | Assembly Hall Bloomington, Indiana |
| Mar 4, 1988 | No. 2 | Michigan | W 76–55 | 24–1 (14–1) | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa |
| Mar 6, 1988 | No. 2 | Michigan State | W 52–46 | 25–1 (15–1) | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa |
| Mar 10, 1988 | No. 2 | at Northwestern | W 76–66 | 26–1 (16–1) | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, Illinois |
| Mar 12, 1988 | No. 2 | Wisconsin | W 98–50 | 27–1 (17–1) | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 18, 1988* | (1 W) No. 2 | (8 W) No. 19 Stephen F. Austin Second round | W 83–65 | 28–1 | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa |
| Mar 24, 1988* | (1 W) No. 2 | vs. (4 W) No. 15 USC West Regional Semifinal – Sweet Sixteen | W 79–67 | 29–1 | Long Beach Arena Long Beach, California |
| Mar 26, 1988* | (1 W) No. 2 | at (2 W) No. 7 Long Beach State West Regional Final – Elite Eight | L 78–98 | 29–2 | Long Beach Arena (2,179) Long Beach, California |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Final |
| AP | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | Not released |
| Coaches | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 6 |