Updated March 3, 2026, 2:28 p.m. CT
After Iowa women’s basketball finished the 2025-26 regular season second in the Big Ten, the Hawkeyes had plenty of action in the league’s end-of-year awards.
Sophomore Ava Heiden headlined the March 3 reveal with a first-team All-Big Ten selection by the coaches and media. She was a unanimous selection by the coaches. Senior Hannah Stuelke was a second-team selection by the coaches and media.
Chit-Chat Wright was named a third-team selection by the coaches and an honorable mention by the media. Sixth-year guard Kylie Feuerbach was named to the league’s all-defensive team by the coaches and media. Addie Deal cracked the coaches’ all-freshman team.
After a freshman season that didn’t produce much until a postseason surge, Heiden has blossomed into a legitimate star. She’ll head to the Big Ten Tournament averaging 17.6 points and 7.7 rebounds per game while shooting 65% from the field. Heiden has scored in double figures all but three times in 29 games with nine double-doubles.
Stuelke’s final collegiate season has featured similar success. She’ll enter the postseason averaging 13.9 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game while shooting 54% from the field. The rebounding and assist figures are career-bests. Stuelke has delivered four 20-point games and eight double-doubles, all while missing two games with shoulder and elbow injuries.
Meanwhile, Wright has been exactly what Iowa needed out of the transfer portal. The sophomore point guard is averaging 12.4 points and 4.7 assists per game while shooting 44% from the field and 46% from deep.
Feuerbach’s selection, however, may be most rewarding. The 6-foot guard has spearheaded Iowa’s defensive rejuvenation, routinely locking up the opposition’s top scorers game after game. Feuerbach is the biggest reason why the Hawkeyes have yielded just 65.2 points per game.
Feuerbach is only the fifth different Iowa player to be named to the Big Ten’s all-defensive team and first since Megan Gustafson in 2019 (coaches’ selection only). Additionally, Feuerbach is the first Iowa guard to earn that distinction since Kachine Alexander was a back-to-back all-defensive team selection in 2010 and 2011.
Deal’s freshman season has been up and down, but the highs have been impressive. She’s scored in double figures five times, highlighted by a 20-point outing against Ohio State on Jan. 25 and an 18-point showing against Oregon on Jan. 15. Deal has made three starts this season and is averaging 5.4 points, 1.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 15.9 minutes per game.
The Hawkeyes (24-5, 15-3 Big Ten) will open Big Ten Tournament play as the No. 2 seed at 5:30 p.m. CT on March 6, facing either No. 7 seed Michigan State, No. 10 seed Illinois or No. 15 seed Wisconsin in the quarterfinals.
Dargan Southard is a sports trending reporter and covers Iowa athletics for the Des Moines Register and HawkCentral.com. Email him at msouthard@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Dargan_Southard.
