After climbing four spots to No. 9 in the latest AP Poll, Jan Jensen’s Iowa Hawkeyes aren’t just rising in the rankings; they are stacking milestones like no one else.

The Hawkeyes recently improved to 22-5 overall, and if a surge like that wasn’t enough, sophomore center Ava Heiden went on to add another accolade to her breakout season.

The 6-foot-4 star earned Big Ten Player of the Week honors thanks to her dominant performance against the then No. 6 Michigan.

In one of the most highly-anticipated games of the 2025-26 NCAA season, Heiden powered Iowa to a 62-44 win, where she finished with a game-high 24 points and secured 10 rebounds to collect her eighth career double-double. And it’s worth noting that she did all that while she was sick.

“That was a big growth step for her,” Jan Jensen said as per 247 Sports. “That bad-ass, kick-ass mentality, you have to have that. She really answered in that fourth quarter…that adrenaline got her rolling, but I was proud of her because the first time, you’re sick and trying to manage it (in game), it’s weird as an athlete.”

But this wasn’t a one-off situation, as Heiden has been putting on a show for the fans game after game. Against the Nebraska Cornhuskers, the star center went on to drop 27 points (one of her best performances so far) and secure 11 rebounds. She followed that with a 21-point, 13-rebound performance at Purdue.

The Oregon native currently ranks fourth nationally in field goal percentage at 64.4% and is averaging 17.3 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. So this marks her third Big Ten Player of the Week honor of the season and her career, while also making her the second Hawkeye to earn national recognition this year. But that’s not all.

After she led the Hawkeyes to three wins, Heiden was also named the Jersey Mike’s Naismith National Player of the Week on Monday.

It’s one thing to have a good week. It’s another to flip-ranked games while not feeling well. For Iowa, that kind of reliability changes everything as they head into the final stretch of the regular season.

Why this Iowa Hawkeyes Team Feels Different in 2026

The rankings say No. 9. The awards validate that momentum. But the Hawkeyes’ real test isn’t yet behind them.

This season has already forced them to grow, after an ACL injury sidelined Taylor McCabe. And when they faced three back-to-back losses against USC, UCLA, and Minnesota, that was their lowest point in the season.

But since then, something in this team has shifted.

The Hawkeyes are currently on a four-game win streak, where they have defeated two Top 25-ranked teams, as they climbed back into the Top 10. But most importantly, they’ve discovered a new identity. one that runs through the paint instead of the perimeter.

On the stats sheet, they are averaging 78.8 points per game, while holding off their opponents to just 65.2.

As they sit 13-3 in the Big Ten Conference, the Hawkeyes have two more games left before the regular season wraps up. Those games are:

• Against the Illinois Fighting Illini on February 26th (a game predicted to be in the Hawkeyes favor with 79.6% by ESPN.)
• Against the Wisconsin Badgers on March 1st (also predicted to be in favor of the Hawkeyes with 93%.)

The numbers suggest that Jan Jensen’s squad should finish strong. But this stretch isn’t about projections, it’s about polish. Because if the Hawkeyes carry this version of themselves into March, where they are balanced, physical, and anchored by Ava Heiden inside, they won’t just be a Top 10 team on paper. They’ll be a team nobody would want to go against.