Iowa women’s basketball’s competition at center remains ‘neck-and-neck’ as Hawkeyes open 2024-25 season

IOWA CITY — Iowa women’s basketball’s position battle at center between Addison O’Grady and Ava Heiden is “neck-and-neck,” as head coach Jan Jensen described it.

“But it’s a fun neck-and-neck,” Jensen said. “They’re pushing each other and making each other better every day.”

The starter for Wednesday’s season opener against Northern Illinois “likely will be” O’Grady, but Jensen has been trying to de-emphasize the importance of which player is in the starting lineup.

“It’s always cool and fun to start, but I want them to really understand that you might play even more minutes if you’re coming off the bench, depending on the flow.”

In Iowa’s exhibition win over Missouri Western last week, O’Grady had eight points in 15 minutes as the starter and Heiden had 10 points in 13 minutes coming off the bench.

Jensen said O’Grady and Heiden “give us a really good look in a different way.” She mentioned O’Grady’s height and her ability to be an “enforcer” on defense. Heiden, meanwhile, is “really mobile” and “can get down that floor.”

The fact Heiden, a freshman, is in the mix for a starting spot at Iowa — a team that, even without Caitlin Clark, just barely missed the cut for the preseason AP Poll — is impressive by itself.

“We just haven’t quite got the timing, but I think when she learns that, she’s going to be a really tough matchup because she can also beat you off the bounce,” Jensen said. “You just haven’t seen it yet.”

The center position will be among the things to watch in Iowa’s first (official) and last tuneup opportunity before the schedule gets more difficult, with a trip to play Virginia Tech in the Ally Tipoff in Charlotte looming on Sunday.

The Hawkeyes have never lost a season opener in the Lisa Bluder/Jan Jensen era, and that is unlikely to change Wednesday against Northern Illinois, which tips off at 6:30 p.m.

The Huskies eked past Louisiana in their season opener on Monday by two points and have not been to the NCAA tournament since 1994-95.

Jensen hopes the Hawkeyes “keep getting more and more used to playing in front of people” during Wednesday’s season-opener.

“I want them to start really getting used to that and just continuing to feel more and more comfortable playing together and making in-game adjustments,” Jensen said.

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