Iowa Women's Basketball Stars Fueled by AP Top 25 Rankings Snub
The Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball team produced a dominant 94-57 win over the Toledo Rockets on Wednesday, which improves their record to 3-0 for the 2024-25 season.
It appeared that the Hawkeyes might have had a chip on their shoulder during the game, as if they felt like they had something to prove. And that something could have been them not being included in the latest AP Top 25 rankings.
There's no question that Iowa is a completely different team from the past squads that had Caitlin Clark, Kate Martin, and Gabbie Marshall, who made it to two consecutive NCAA National Championship games.
But this new-look Hawkeyes squad still has superstars. And they've made it clear that this AP rankings snub has fueled their recent form.
"Let them sleep on us," said Hawkeyes guard Taylor McCabe (who scored 14 points on 4-8 three-point shooting in 18 minutes played on Wednesday) of the AP rankings, per Kyle Huesmann.
"The rankings only matter at the end of the year anyway."
Taylor McCabe made her thoughts on Iowa being unranked in the AP Poll very clear...
— Kyle Huesmann (@HuesmannKyle) November 14, 2024
"Let them sleep on us..." pic.twitter.com/TwM1o68j1E
The two best players on the 2024-25 Hawkeyes squad seem to be Hannah Stuelke and Lucy Olsen. The duo combined for 29 points while only taking 15 total shots between them against Toledo.
And after the game ended, Stuelke conveyed how Olsen felt after seeing the recent AP rankings.
"Lucy texted me right away, and we were like, yeah, that's not going to cut it, so I think it gave us a little fuel to our fire," Stuelke said, per Huesmann.
Hannah Stuelke on being unranked in the AP Poll...
— Kyle Huesmann (@HuesmannKyle) November 14, 2024
"Lucy texted me right away, and we were like, yeah, that's not going to cut it, so I think it gave us a little fuel to our fire."
The Hawkeyes won't be snubbed by the AP Top 25 rankings for much longer if they keep winning games like they are right now.
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.