McKenna Woliczko Scores Career-High 22 as No. 10 Iowa Forces 27 Turnovers in 80-39 Rout of Eastern Illinois

IOWA CITY, Iowa. McKenna Woliczko had never scored 20 points in a college game. By the time Thursday night was over, Woliczko had 22, on 9 of 12 shooting with four 3-pointers, and No. 10 Iowa had a lopsided 80-39 win over Eastern Illinois on Nov. 5 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Woliczko's career-high night came in just 23 minutes, with 11 points in each half. Ava Heiden added 15 points on 7 of 8 shooting and a team-high eight rebounds, and Amari Whiting filled the stat sheet with seven assists, seven rebounds and six steals. The Hawkeyes forced 27 turnovers and turned them into 30 points, improving to 2-0. Eastern Illinois fell to 0-2.

Here is the ESPN box score (opens in a new tab) and Iowa's recap (opens in a new tab).

A close first quarter, then a surge

The first quarter stayed relatively close. Iowa led 17-10 after 10 minutes, and a 6-1 run to close the period provided most of that cushion.

The second quarter was a different story. Iowa won the period 27-8, closing the half on an 11-2 run to take a 44-18 lead into the locker room. The Panthers managed just eight points in those 10 minutes.

After a third quarter that Iowa won 16-12 for a 60-30 lead, the Hawkeyes opened the fourth with a 10-0 run to put the game away. Woliczko's 3-pointer with 5:10 left made it 75-34.

Woliczko's breakthrough, with help

Woliczko's line was as efficient as it gets. The 22 points came on 9 of 12 shooting from the field and 4 of 6 from 3-point range. Woliczko also grabbed four rebounds, three of them offensive, and did not commit a turnover. According to Iowa, it was Woliczko's first 20-point game, and the scoring was evenly split, with 11 in each half.

"McKenna's a really good student of the game," Iowa coach Jan Jensen said.

The performance came three nights after Woliczko posted 10 points, eight rebounds and three blocks in the season-opening win over Towson. Two games in, Woliczko is giving the Hawkeyes production at both ends of the floor.

Heiden was nearly perfect. Heiden made 7 of 8 shots and 1 of 2 free throws for 15 points, with eight rebounds, three of them offensive, two assists and a block in 22 minutes. Between them, Woliczko and Heiden went 16 of 20 from the field. Heiden's eight rebounds were the most by any player in the game.

Whiting's impact did not show up in the scoring column, where Whiting had four points on 1 of 4 shooting. It showed up everywhere else. Whiting matched a career high with six steals, a mark first set at Oklahoma State on Nov. 19, 2025, according to Iowa, and led the team with seven assists while adding seven rebounds.

Dani Carnegie, who scored 21 in the opener, added 12 points and seven rebounds, though it took 15 shots to get there. Chazadi Wright, who passed 400 career points in the opener, had seven points and four assists without a turnover.

A defense that keeps forcing mistakes

The defining number was 27. Eastern Illinois turned the ball over 27 times, and Iowa finished with 16 steals. Whiting had six of them and Journey Houston, off the bench, had four. Iowa scored 30 points off those turnovers, according to Iowa.

"I thought we were much more organized in our transition," Jensen said.

The Hawkeyes also controlled the paint and the glass. Iowa outrebounded Eastern Illinois 44-25, grabbed 20 offensive rebounds and outscored the Panthers 40-16 in the paint, according to Iowa. The Hawkeyes assisted on 22 of their 31 baskets and committed only 12 turnovers.

The offense was not perfect. Iowa shot 31 of 70 from the field, 44 percent, and 9 of 28 from 3-point range. Take away Woliczko's 4 of 6 and the rest of the team went 5 of 22 from deep. The Hawkeyes also went just 9 of 14 at the line. On a night when the defense was creating so many extra possessions, those numbers did not matter much.

Through two games, according to Iowa, the Hawkeyes have held both opponents under 50 points, with Towson scoring 45 and Eastern Illinois 39.

Eleven Hawkeyes played, and nine of them scored. Jocelyn Faison added six points off the bench, Houston and Taylor Stremlow scored five apiece, and Layla Hays went 4 of 6 at the line for four points with three offensive rebounds. Houston's four steals came with five rebounds, three on the offensive end, in 17 minutes, and Stremlow handed out three assists.

Two players made their first appearances in Iowa uniforms. Ella Strömdahl made a collegiate debut and recorded an assist and a steal in three minutes, and Bria Medina played just under five minutes in a Hawkeye debut, according to Iowa.

Eastern Illinois struggles to hold on

Ava Stoller led Eastern Illinois with 10 points, going 4 of 4 at the line, and Clara Glad added nine points and four rebounds in a team-high 33 minutes. Abbie Boutilier scored six with four rebounds, and Nevaeh Dickman and Nyah Hardy added five apiece. Glad and Hardy made the Panthers' only two 3-pointers. Meioshe Mason fouled out after 11 minutes off the bench. Stoller and Glad had two steals each, Alahnna Simpson handed out two assists in 19 minutes off the bench, and Dalia Grandberry blocked a shot in 15 minutes.

The Panthers shot 12 of 38 from the field, 31.6 percent, and only 2 of 9 from 3-point range. They were efficient at the line, making 13 of 16 free throws, and blocked four shots. Ball security was the problem. Dickman and Janyah Bohanon each committed five turnovers, and every Panther who played turned it over at least once except Dalia Grandberry.

With the win, Iowa is 1-0 all-time against Eastern Illinois, according to Iowa.

Two games, one pattern

Iowa won all four quarters against Eastern Illinois, 17-10, 27-8, 16-12 and 20-9, and took the halves 44-18 and 36-21. The lead grew from seven after one quarter to 26 at halftime, 30 after three and 41 at the end.

The first two games have followed a similar script. In the 73-45 opener against Towson, Iowa won the rebounding battle 52-27 and the second-chance points 21-2. Against Eastern Illinois, the margin on the glass was 44-25. Across the two games, the Hawkeyes have outrebounded their opponents 96-52.

The defense has been just as consistent. Towson shot 19 of 61 in the opener, and Eastern Illinois shot 12 of 38, so Iowa's first two opponents have combined to make 31 of 99 shots. They have averaged 42 points a game.

What it means and what is next

For Jensen, the win was the 52nd of a head coaching career at Iowa that now stands at 52-18. For the Hawkeyes, it was another step in finding an identity after the opener, with a defense that is forcing turnovers at a high rate and a frontcourt that is scoring efficiently.

The real test comes next. Iowa travels to Storrs, Conn., to face No. 2 UConn on Sunday, Nov. 8, at 1 p.m. CT on FS1. The Hawkeyes then return home to host Northern Iowa on Thursday, Nov. 12, at 7:30 p.m. CT on BTN.

How Iowa handles UConn's pressure, and whether Woliczko and Heiden can keep converting at this rate against UConn, will say much more about this team than a pair of comfortable home wins.

For more on the Hawkeyes, read our recap of Iowa's season-opening win over Towson and visit our Iowa team page.

Sources: ESPN box score, Iowa Athletics.

Photo: Iowa Athletics.