Michigan
Iowa
Michigan to Head to Iowa to Start Stretch Run
2/20/2026 2:46:00 PM | Women's Basketball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 6-ranked University of Michigan women's basketball team (22-3, 13-2 Big Ten) will hit the road after having the week off, heading to Iowa to face the No. 13-ranked Hawkeyes (21-5, 12-3 Big Ten) on Sunday (Feb. 22) at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The game is set for 11 a.m. CT and can be seen live on Fox.
Notes
• Michigan is looking to snap a five-game losing streak to Iowa in its first trip to Iowa City since the 2023-24 season. The Hawkeyes lead the all-time series, 55-20, with Michigan's last win at Carver-Hawkeye Arena coming in head coach Kim Barnes Arico's first season, a 68-64 victory on Jan. 6, 2013.
• Michigan is 13-2 in Big Ten action this season, currently sitting in second with Iowa right behind at 12-3. Michigan's 11-1 start in conference play before falling to UCLA set a new program standard. Michigan's total of 13 Big Ten wins is tied for the most in program history. U-M also won 13 conference games in 1999-2000 and 2021-22.
• Michigan has also tied the program record for regular-season wins after picking up an 86-65 win over No. 13 Michigan State (Feb. 15). U-M also won 22 games during the regular season in 2016-17 en route to the 2017 WNIT championship and in 2021-22 before making a run to the Elite Eight for the first time in program history.
• The No. 13-ranked Hawkeyes are Michigan's eighth ranked opponent of the season. U-M is 4-3 against top-25 teams this season, falling to just No. 1 UConn, No. 2 UCLA and No. 5 Vanderbilt by a combined nine points, three-point margins in each game.
• Michigan moved up one spot to No. 6 in the latest Associated Press poll. It is the 13th straight week that Michigan has been in the top 10, the longest streak in the top 10 in program history. Michigan was in the top 10 for six straight weeks during the 2021-22 season. That streak started with the Jan. 17, 2022 poll and ran through the Feb. 21, 2022 poll.
• The NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Committee tabbed UConn, UCLA, South Carolina and Vanderbilt as the No. 1 seeds in its first top 16 reveal of the season.
Following those teams as the projected No. 2 seeds are Texas, Michigan, Louisville and LSU. Ohio State, Duke, Iowa and TCU would be the No. 3 seeds. Rounding out the top 16 are Maryland, Michigan State, Ole Miss and Oklahoma placed on the four line.
The committee also provided regional assignments for all 16 seeds. Fort Worth Regional 1 included UConn, LSU, Ohio State and Oklahoma. UCLA, Texas, Duke and Ole Miss were assigned to Sacramento Regional 2. Fort Worth Regional 3 would feature South Carolina, Louisville, Iowa and Michigan State, and Vanderbilt, Michigan, TCU and Maryland were placed in Sacramento Regional 4.
• Olivia Olson was named Big Ten Player of the Week this past week, the first Wolverine to win the honor since 2022. Olson recorded a pair of 20-point performances this week, running her streak to seven straight games with at least 20 points. She went for 21 points, eight rebounds, a career-high seven assists and two steals in 31 minutes in Michigan's win at Northwestern (Feb. 12). Olson followed that up with 23 points on 7-for-12 shooting to go with eight rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks in 35 minutes against No. 13 Michigan State (Feb. 15).
• Michigan enters the contest as the top-scoring team in the conference, also ranking fifth nationally at 86.6 points per game. U-M is 20-0 when scoring at least 80 points after putting up 86 points against No. 13 Michigan State (Feb. 15).
• Michigan picked up its 20th win of the season, using a second-half surge to top Nebraska, 88-76. U-M has reached 20 wins in all but one season under Kim Barnes Arico, with the exception coming during the 2020-21 season when Michigan played just 22 games during the COVID pandemic. U-M now has 17 20-win seasons in program history, with 13 coming under KBA. She was just named to the 2026 Werner Ladder Naismith Women's College Coach of the Year Watch List.
