The No. 24 Iowa Hawkeyes capped off one of their biggest years in history with a fairly easy victory over the visiting Purdue Boilermakers, 84-63.

It was Iowa’s first Big Ten victory of the season after losing their conference opener to the No. 19 Michigan State Spartans. This victory comes after being off for nine days for the holidays.

Though it was a sound victory, the Boilermakers, much like the Northern Iowa Panthers on Dec. 21, gave the Hawkeyes all they could handle. After a first quarter in which the Hawkeyes were in complete control, leading 27-13, the Boilermakers made huge runs in the second quarter to bring them within contention. Iowa was hampered with a three minute scoring drought, along with some sloppy turnovers.

The same pattern repeated in the third quarter with the Boilermakers cutting the margin to eight points after being down by eighteen earlier. However, the Hawkeyes closed out the period in dominating fashion to get back to a double digit lead. From there, the Hawkeyes had the game in the bag.

A primary theme for the game was the Hawkeyes’ even scoring distribution. Senior big Addison O’Grady finished as the only player to score in double figures with 12 points. Meanwhile, five players—junior forward Hannah Stuelke, senior guard Sydney Affolter, freshman guard Taylor Stremlow, freshman guard Aaliyah Guyton and freshman center Ava Heiden—finished with nine points each. Freshman guard Teegan Mallegni captured eight points, while senior guard Lucy Olsen finished with six points and six assists. Redshirt senior guard Kylie Feuerbach came away with six points, both from beyond the arc in the second half.

It was a game in which four freshmen—Stremlow, Guyton, Heiden and Mallengi—played a big part, coming off the bench to help Iowa outscore Purdue in bench points. 42-27.

Given the mixture of freshmen and core veteran talent, the chemistry of the team blossomed in the way they all contributed points, and speaks to the journey the team has been on since the summer, striving to establish a solid unit. The postgame press conference featured two of the freshman, with Stremlow speaking to the team’s dynamic, as Guyton was present but battling a sore throat. Stremlow emphasized:

I think we’ve come a long way. I know we have since this summer. I’m sure Aaliyah would agree, especially Aaliyah coming back from an injury. You hesitate to think how everything will mesh, but as you can see we are all flowing well together. It’s really fun to play with that chemistry and obviously we had some moments, like I bumped into Teegan (Mallengi) a couple of times, but I think just fixing those things and we’ll be fine.

In a year which saw Caitlin Clark become the all-time leading scorer in college basketball, followed by a second-consecutive appearance in the national championship game, the Hawkeyes can take a breather. They’ve defied expectations in the first half of the season with a new coach and new dynamic. Since she was hired in May following the retirement of Lisa Bluder, head coach Jan Jensen has experienced a full-speed ahead journey, one she traces back to when she first started with Iowa in 2000, sharing:

I mean it’s been a heck of a year. I’ve been blessed. I was blessed in 2000, 2001 all up to ‘23, ‘24. My ride here has been something, so was my ride earlier. I think the deal is you just don’t slow down. I’ve never felt the day go faster, and so I never really reflected on that until you asked.

Jensen gave a shout out to Purdue coach Katie Geralds, who presented Jensen with flowers before the game in tribute to the recent passing of former player and Hawkeye radio analyst Jamie Cavey-Lang, who passed away from cancer at age 41 on Dec. 23. Jensen said:

How classy was Katie Geralds? Katie Geralds played against Jamie and Katie is really thoughtful. When I lost my dad, she was one of the first to call, send flowers to the office. Just really classy. It was really touching.

Cavey-Lang played for Iowa from 2001 to 2005. She scored 1,265 career points, which is 27th in program history.

No. 24 Iowa (11-2, 1-1) will hit the road to take on Penn State (9-4, 0-2) on Wednesday, Jan. 1 at 12 p.m. ET.

2024 saw the continued ascendance of women’s college basketball. What’s in store for 2025? Swish Appeal’s staff writers share what we hope to see in 2025:

Harmoni Turner gets her flowers—and a spot in March Madness

Harvard’s Harmoni Turner is having one of those seasons that little girls dream about when shooting hoops in their driveway. Let me be clear: She’s been in her own lane in the Ivy League. However, Harvard’s success as a group is finally keeping pace with Turner, where in years past it’s struggled to match her strides. In Turner’s first three seasons, the Crimson couldn’t break past the top three of the Ivy League, depriving the superstar of a March Madness debut. This year, Turner is leaving no stone unturned.

Harvard is roaring at 11-1. Turner is stuffing stat sheets nightly, boasting a 21-point, five-rebound and four-assist average. She’s a ball hawk on the defensive end of the floor, anchoring the 14th-best scoring defense in the country with 3.6 steals a night. She exploded for 41 points against Massachusetts rival Boston College in November— undoubtedly a career night, but don’t be shocked if she can replicate (or improve upon) such a performance in conference play.

There’s no doubt that Turner could be the star of a Power 5 program, but she’s not worried about the glory. The Texas native is proud to be blossoming in Cambridge. That’s important. Blank checks from big schools are pretty, but money comes and goes. Turner’s hoop legacy at the most prestigious school in the States will last forever. And if you don’t think WNBA executives are watching the Crimson, you’re the one that needs to catch up. Harmoni Turner deserves her flowers, and a March Madness berth too. — Beckett Harrison

A competitive start for the new-look Big Ten

Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

Let’s face it: It’s going to take a little while for everyone to get used to the NCAA’s recent conference realignment. Once based exclusively in the Midwest, the Big Ten now spans from sea to shining sea, with the ingestion of former Pac-12 schools Oregon, Washington, UCLA and USC raising the number of programs in the conference to 18.

It helps that most of the newcomers are pretty good. Even Big Ten purists must admit that UCLA (currently ranked No. 1 in the country by the Associated Press) and USC (currently ranked No. 4) have been extremely impressive thus far, and with conference play now officially underway, the Big Ten is in for night after night of high-quality basketball.

This will ideally culminate in an exciting and competitive Big Ten conference tournament, which will be held from March 5 through March 9 of next year. There will surely be a buzz in Gainbridge Fieldhouse as many fans get to see young stars like JuJu Watkins and Lauren Betts in person for the first time, and the idea of a first-year team winning a conference championship should stoke the fires of competitiveness among the Big Ten’s original programs. — Eric Nemchock

Syla Swords awards season

Photo by Jaime Crawford/Getty Images

Michigan freshman Syla Swords has been excellent in non-conference play, but with a new and improved Big Ten coming, it will be interesting to see how she adapts. The Canadian Olympian was the youngest person to ever represent Canada when she played in Paris. That experience has helped her lead Michigan to a 10-3 start this season. Swords did recently suffer a non-contact leg injury, causing her to miss the Wolverines’ loss to USC. Hopefully, it’s nothing serious and she’ll be back on the court for the Maize and Blue soon.

In 2025, I hope the young Canadian continues to thrive. She could end up winning Big Ten Freshman of the Year, among other awards. — Chelsea Leite

Bring on March Madness!

Photo by Harry How/Getty Images

We can discuss conference tournaments and rising stars, but let’s keep the main thing the main thing. March Madness is what it all leads up to, and I hope 2025 can rival the theatrics of 2024.

The brackets, buzzer beaters, Cinderellas and titans clashing are what make this iteration of basketball unique to all others. On paper, we have some great potential matchups. South Carolina is still a top team, UConn’s Paige Bueckers is a superstar and LA has Lauren Betts and UCLA and JuJu Watkins and USC ready to win the national title.

If some of these storylines are on full display on the biggest collegiate stage, we could see more television ratings records and, more importantly, witness some high-level basketball. — Edwin Garcia

The Dawn of a dynasty

Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images

Yes, it’s fun to make proclamations about parity, envisioning all the teams that could make noise in March. Yet, it’s dominance that defines the history of the sport. And in 2025, South Carolina can cement their dominance and, in turn, further establish Dawn Staley’s program as the sport’s definitional standard, without quibbles or qualifications.

After the Gamecocks’ 43-game winning streak was snapped, their reign at the top of the sport was pronounced done. Since then, they’ve reeled off six-straight double-digit wins, including two over opponents ranked in the top 10 at the time of the matchup. Their combination of defense and depth is again proving deadly. South Carolina’s relented less than an average of 53 points per game since losing to UCLA, overwhelming opponents with a smart, swarming defense. And while other coaches might struggle to optimize a roster full of star-studded recruits, Staley remains a master at maximizing talent, with 10 Gamecocks averaging at least 15 minutes per game and all 10 capable of leading the team in scoring in a given contest.

South Carolina can become the first back-to-back national champions since 2016 (when UConn captured it’s fourth-straight crown), reminding that, in a sport that loves to celebrate individuals stars, it’s teams that win titles. — Cat Ariail

Maya Angelou once said, “When someone shows you who they are, believe them”.

Lately, there has been too many men in the male-dominated world of sports podcasting who are showing themselves to be unbelievably hostile—if not angry—at the mere sight of women achieving success in sports.

Podcaster and influencer Charleston White is a good example of someone who has shown who he is, time after time. He’s demonstrated himself to be a reckless, rude and repulsive personality who doesn’t seem to have the slightest care in the world. He has routinely made misogynistic and racist comments, including advocating for Asian women to be sexually assaulted by Black men by relying on historically-racist stereotypes about Black men as violent brutes and Asian women as weak and feeble.

His latest target is Chicago Sky power forward Angel Reese.

During an appearance on the Club 520 Podcast hosted by former NBA player Jeff Teague, White defended previous comments made by Shaquille O’Neal, in which he suggested his fellow LSU alum should dunk while wearing short shorts in order to draw more viewers to the WNBA. The comments made on Reese’s podcast, Unapologetically Angel, made her visibility uncomfortable and drew ire on social media.

White didn’t double down, he didn’t triple down, he quadrupled down on those comments, which is still putting it mildly. “I’m with Shaq,” he said “Dunk in some panties with no bra on. That’s how you sell tickets. We need an OnlyFans WNBA, then I’ll tune in.”

This wasn’t the first time White objectified Reese. After she expressed disappointment at the results of the 2024 election, when Vice President Kamala Harris lost to President-elect Donald Trump, White offered his two cents. “She can’t do nothing but play basketball,” he said. “Angel Reese might as well start selling p***y. She don’t want to play basketball; she wants to h**.”

By the way, how can he say she can play basketball, but doesn’t want to play?

On the Dec. 24 episode of Club 520, Teague said Caitlin Clark and A’ja Wilson wouldn’t be able to score a point against Los Angeles Lakers rookie Bronny James, the son of LeBron James, if they played a game of one on one. He also said they couldn’t compete against players in the NBA G League or on a high school boys team.

Both Clark and Wilson are at their respective peaks. Clark is coming off winning Rookie of the Year and being named TIME Magazine’s Athlete of the Year. Wilson won her third MVP, along with a gold medal at the 2024 Olympics. Meanwhile, Bronny James, truly no disrespect, is still trying to get his feet wet in the NBA, appearing in seven games for the Lakers and averaging 0.6 points and 0.1 rebounds.

The comments from White and Teague materialized over the holidays, igniting a firestorm of backlash from players and analysts within the WNBA family on Twitter/X. A few examples include:

• Lexie Brown of the Los Angeles Sparks: “Wrong is wrong. No matter what or who is being discussed. I’m glad people are finally seeing the unnecessary disrespect that women athletes face.”
• Analyst Natalie Esquire of NBC Sports: “Jeff Teague is a whole clown for this. I hope no player in the W goes on his pod or works with him. League better not even entertain his ass.”
• Women’s basketball media personality and Andscape contributor Arielle Chambers: “I wonder what possesses men to get on their respective podcasts and talk so derogatorily about women/women athletes. The audacity is so alarming. Like you good bruh?! Cuz what?!?!,”

The words of White and Teague speak to a bigger issue: Some men clearly feel a bizarre angst about women in sports to the point where they have to resort to sexualizing and degrading them to draw clicks.

While their retrograde attitudes are rightfully being called out by prominent women in the game, there needs to be just as many men speaking out. Men with platforms in the basketball cultural space should make clear that the comments of White, Teague and their ilk are not a reflection of what manhood in sports and society should represent. It is unfortunate that this moment of growth for women’s basketball and women’s sports has brought out the worst among a select few of men with a microphone. What’s even more unfortunate is that conversations then fixate on what they say, and not on the accomplishments of these women.

The more men in sports media who have the cojones to speak up against misogyny and sexism, the better sports—and, frankly, this world—would be. Men with character, integrity, security and self respect can help to charter a new course. One such example is commentator Chris Williamson, who called out Teague in a reply post to former USC standout McKenzie Forbes, which read, “Teague been talking nasty about the W riddled with misogyny ever since the 2024 wnba season began.”

Williamson followed up by noting previous comments Teague made about Brittney Griner, posting, “And it wasn’t just the blatant disrespect for Angel either. We peeped that trifling crap they said about Brittney Griner too. Talmbout, ‘yeah I wished her ass stayed in that Russian jail’ cuz of that pool pic. Whole bunch of pathetic excuses for men.”

To which I say, “Amen!” Let’s get it together, guys.

The No. 8 Maryland Terrapins (11-0) host the No. 19 Michigan State Spartans (11-1) this Sunday, Dec. 29, as Big Ten conference play begins in earnest across the country. The game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. ET tip-off and will be broadcast via the B1G+ streaming service.

The Terrapins entered the 2024-25 NCAA season on a mission to prove that last season’s 9-9 conference record was a fluke. Maryland has more often than not been near at the top of the Big Ten standings since joining the conference a decade ago, but fell short of expectations in 2024, prompting head coach Brenda Frese to look to the transfer portal to reload her program.

Thus far, it’s looking like Maryland is once again a team to fear. Transfers such as Kaylene Smikle (17.7 points per game) and Christina Dalce (10.4 points and 8.5 rebounds per game) have made immediate impacts and allowed senior Shyanne Sellers (11.8 points and 5.5 assists per game) to slide into a lower-usage, higher-efficiency role than the one she played last season. As a team, the Terrapins are playing at their usual fast pace, but have significantly improved their defense, allowing just 77.7 points per 100 possessions (Her Hoop Stats)—down from 95.5 last season, which was by far the team’s worst defensive efficiency since joining the Big Ten.

That Terrapins defense will be tested on Sunday against a Michigan State team that plays a similar brand of uptempo basketball. In their second season under head coach Robyn Fralick, the Spartans are off to an impressive start, only recently dropping their first game of the season, and they’re one of the best teams in the nation at creating fast break opportunities. Michigan State ranks third in Division I in steal rate (16.3 percent) and 11th in pace (78.9 possessions per 40 minutes), while a whopping six players average at least 1.5 steals per game.

Of those players, three average double-figure scoring: Julia Ayrault (16.6), Grace VanSlooten (14.4) and Theryn Hallock (11.9). While Michigan State doesn’t have a go-to ball handler like Maryland (former All-Big Ten point guard DeeDee Hagemann transferred to Memphis last summer), the way the Spartans run the floor in transition ensures a balanced offense regardless.

Last season, Michigan State prevailed over Maryland in their lone meeting, scoring 52 points in the second half en route to a 74-69 victory. Neither team shot particularly well, combining to go 10-for-39 (25.6 percent) on 3-pointers, so that will be just one of several things to watch for on Sunday. It’s a given that the game will have lots of possessions, but will Maryland or Michigan State be more efficient with them? Both teams will be looking to make statements against their ranked opponent, which would be meaningful in the Big Ten standings, too, even this early in conference play.

Game information

No. 19 Michigan State Spartans (11-1; 1-0 Big Ten) vs. No. 8 Maryland Terrapins (11-0; 1-0 Big Ten)

When: Sunday, Dec. 29 at 1:00 p.m. ET

Where: XFINITY Center in College Park, MD

How to watch: BTN+