# 1992–93 Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball team

The 1992–1993 Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball team represented the University of Iowa in the 1992–1993 NCAA women's basketball season. The Hawkeyes, led by tenth-year head coach C. Vivian Stringer, played their home games in Iowa City, IA at Carver–Hawkeye Arena as members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 27–4 overall, 16–2 in Big Ten play, sharing the regular season conference championship. The team was the first Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball team to advance to the Final Four in the women's NCAA basketball tournament.
Iowa won 23 of their first 24 games, with the only loss being a two-point defeat to No. 10 Colorado at the FIU Sun and Fun Classic tournament – a game in which the Hawkeyes missed 11 free throws. They owned a two-game lead in the conference standings with three games left on the regular season schedule, but due to back-to-back road losses at No. 8 Penn State and No. 4 Ohio State the Hawks settled for a share of the Big Ten title.
In the NCAA tournament, Iowa defeated Old Dominion, No. 7 Auburn, and No. 2 Tennessee to reach the Final Four. Playing a familiar foe in the National semifinal, No. 3 Ohio State, Iowa fell to the Buckeyes 73–72 in overtime. The team is remembered for overcoming tragedy and wondering what could have been, while achieving great success with a team that was as good as any other in the country that season.

## Previous season

The Hawkeyes won the Big Ten championship with a 16–2 conference record, finishing two games ahead of second place Purdue. After reaching the NCAA tournament for the seventh consecutive season, No. 1 seed Iowa was stunned by No. 8 seed and eventual Final Four participant SW Missouri State, 61–60 in overtime, in the second round of the 1992 women's NCAA basketball tournament. The team finished with an overall record of 25–4 and a No. 7 ranking in the final AP poll.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Dec 4, 1992* | No. 7 | at Pittsburgh | W 70–59 | 1–0 | Fitzgerald Field House Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Dec 6, 1992* | No. 7 | at No. 4 Maryland | W 53–50 | 2–0 | Cole Fieldhouse College Park, Maryland |
| Dec 11, 1992* | No. 5 | West Virginia Amana Hawkeye Classic | W 74–44 | 3–0 | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa |
| Dec 12, 1992* | No. 5 | UNC Charlotte Amana Hawkeye Classic | W 60–38 | 4–0 | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa |
| Dec 20, 1992* | No. 4 | Drake | W 90–44 | 5–0 | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa |
| Jan 2, 1993* | No. 4 | vs. Bucknell FIU Sun and Fun Classic | W 97–39 | 6–0 | Miami, Florida |
| Jan 3, 1993* | No. 4 | vs. No. 10 Colorado FIU Sun and Fun Classic | L 70–72 | 6–1 | (312) Miami, Florida |
| Jan 4, 1993* | No. 4 | vs. Eastern Kentucky FIU Sun and Fun Classic | W 67–63 | 7–1 | Miami, Florida |
| Jan 8, 1993 | No. 5 | Wisconsin | W 65–39 | 8–1 (1–0) | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa |
| Jan 10, 1993 | No. 5 | at Minnesota | W 75–47 | 9–1 (2–0) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Jan 15, 1993 | No. 7 | at Illinois | W 65–57 | 10–1 (3–0) | Assembly Hall Champaign, Illinois |
| Jan 17, 1993 | No. 7 | at Northwestern | W 60–55 | 11–1 (4–0) | Welsh–Ryan Arena Evanston, Illinois |
| Jan 22, 1993 | No. 6 | Indiana | W 65–39 | 12–1 (5–0) | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa |
| Jan 26, 1993 | No. 3 | Northern Illinois | W 92–59 | 13–1 | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa |
| Jan 29, 1993 | No. 3 | at Michigan | W 84–54 | 14–1 (6–0) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Jan 31, 1993 | No. 3 | at Michigan State | W 75–55 | 15–1 (7–0) | Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, Michigan |
| Feb 5, 1993 | No. 3 | No. 6 Ohio State | W 79–62 | 16–1 (8–0) | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa |
| Feb 7, 1993 | No. 3 | No. 4 Penn State | W 84–59 | 17–1 (9–0) | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa |
| Feb 12, 1993 | No. 3 | Northwestern | W 68–62 | 18–1 (10–0) | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa |
| Feb 14, 1993 | No. 3 | Illinois | W 77–58 | 19–1 (11–0) | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa |
| Feb 19, 1993 | No. 3 | at Purdue | W 63–55 | 20–1 (12–0) | Mackey Arena West Lafayette, Indiana |
| Feb 21, 1993 | No. 3 | at Indiana | W 68–46 | 21–1 (13–0) | Assembly Hall Bloomington, Indiana |
| Feb 26, 1993 | No. 3 | Michigan State | W 76–46 | 22–1 (14–0) | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa |
| Feb 28, 1993 | No. 3 | Michigan | W 71–34 | 23–1 (15–0) | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa |
| Mar 5, 1993 | No. 2 | at No. 8 Penn State | L 64–70 | 23–2 (15–1) | Rec Hall University Park, Pennsylvania |
| Mar 7, 1993 | No. 2 | at No. 4 Ohio State | L 60–72 | 23–3 (15–2) | St. John Arena Columbus, Ohio |
| Mar 12, 1993 | No. 4 | Minnesota | W 83–59 | 24–3 (16–2) | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 21, 1993* | (2 ME) No. 4 | at (7 ME) Old Dominion Second round | W 82–56 | 25–3 | ODU Fieldhouse Norfolk, Virginia |
| Mar 25, 1993* | (2 ME) No. 4 | (3 ME) No. 7 Auburn Regional Semifinal – Sweet Sixteen | W 63–50 | 26–3 | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa |
| Mar 27, 1993* | (2 ME) No. 4 | (1 ME) No. 2 Tennessee Regional Final – Elite Eight | W 72–56 | 27–3 | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa |
| Apr 3, 1993* | (2 ME) No. 4 | vs. (1 MW) No. 3 Ohio State National Semifinal – Final Four | L 72–73 | 27–4 | Omni Coliseum Atlanta, Georgia |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ME=Mideast. All times are in Central. ||||||

## 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 |
| Poll | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Final |
| AP | 7 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | Not released |
| Coaches | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 4 |
^Coaches did not release a Week 2 poll.