Heiden tallies 21-point double-double as No. 13 Iowa women beat Purdue 83-74

By Canadian Press on February 19, 2026.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Ava Heiden scored 21 points and tallied a double-double to lead No. 13 Iowa 83-74 over Purdue on Thursday.

Heiden was a ruthlessly efficient 10-of-12 shooting for the Hawkeyes (21-5, 12-3 Big Ten). She added 13 rebounds, three assists and three steals. Taylor Stremlow had 19 points, going 7 of 10, and dishing eight assists. Journey Houston scored 16 to go with five rebounds.

The Hawkeyes shot 59 percent (32-of-54) and 47 percent from beyond the arc (9-of-19). The win was the 10th in a row for the Hawkeyes over the Boilermakers (12-14, 4-11). It broke a deadlock in the historical series, giving Iowa a 41-40 lead.

Nya Smith scored 19 and Kiki Smith had 17 for the Boilermakers, with Nya Smith adding five rebounds and five assists. Tara Daye had 15 points and seven rebounds, and Kendall Puryear scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

The Hawkeyes took a 51-32 lead into the halftime break after an early 11-2 run was followed by a 20-1 run later in the half. Stremlow scored all 19 of her points in the first half on 7 of 8 shooting and 5 of 5 from behind the arc. Heiden had 12 in the second half, and her pair of jumpers to open the second half built a game-high 23-point lead for the Hawkeyes.

A late 7-0 run from the Boilermakers inside the final two minutes made the final score a bit closer than the double-digit margin it was for the majority of the second half.

Up next

No. 13 Iowa will host No. 6 Michigan on Sunday.

Purdue will travel to face No. 14 Maryland on Sunday.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball

The Associated Press