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Game Day Guide: Iowa Women's Basketball Opens Season Against Towson
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- Game Day Guide: Iowa Women's Basketball Opens Season Against Towson
(USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect)
Jan Jensen, Dani Carnegie, and McKenna Woliczko react to exhibition win.
After steamrolling Maryville in an exhibition game on Thursday, it's time for Iowa women's basketball to do the real thing.
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The 10th-ranked Hawkeyes will open their season with a matchup against the Towson Tigers at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Monday night.
Here is everything you need to know about the matchup before you make your way to Carver-Hawkeye, including game time, TV channel, spread, and a lot more.
Where/When To Watch
Matchup:Towson Tigers @ No. 10 Iowa Hawkeyes
Location:Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa
Scheduled game time:Nov. 2 at 7 p.m.
TV:BTN+
Announcers:Luke Jorden, Karch Smith
About Towson
Towson, which is located in Towson, Maryland, has been a respectable Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) in recent years under coach Laura Harper. going 17-14 and 10-8 (tied for fourth place) in league action in 2025-26. It's worth mentioning that Towson has a poor historical mark, making just once NCAA tournament berth in its history (2019), so Harper's three winning seasons in four years in charge (overall record is 70-57)is a very good sign for the Tigers.
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But what does Towson have in 2027? Leading scorer India Johnson is gone after netting 16 points per game, so that's already one massive hole Harper and Co. will have to fill. The Tigers have eight new faces this year - with six of them being freshmen. That's a bit of a daunting number for a head coach, but if there is someone that could carry this Towson team early, it's probably third-year guard Ava Renninger, who transferred in from Farleigh Dickinson in the offseason.
The 5-foot-6 Renninger already has experience against the Hawkeyes, too, as her 15th-seeded Knights nearly shocked Iowa in the first round of the NCAA tournament this past spring. Renninger played in all 40 minutes of that game, posting 13 points, five rebounds, and three assists. She averaged 17.7 points and 8.7 rebounds per game during the season and earned two All-Northeast Conference selections during her tenure there.
While Renninger will provide an immediate breath of fresh experience to this roster, there are two seniors that could play a role for Towson - Thalia Shepard and Zoli Khalil. Shepard averaged 9.3 points per game last year, while Khalil averaged 9.4.
Additional Game Notes
Series History:Iowa and Towson have met just once all-time. That matchup took place on Nov. 28, 2019, with the Hawkeyes collecting a 100-72 victory at the Puerto Rico Classic. Makenzie Meyer was Iowa's leading scorer that day, tallying 29 points on five three-pointers.
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Homecoming for Sanders:While Renninger has previous experience playing against the Hawkeyes inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Towson assistant coach Zion Sanders is returning to the place where she played college basketball. That's right. Sanders played for Iowa from 2017-18 through 2020-21 as a reserve guard and played in that 2019 game against Towson.
Winning streak in season openers:The Hawkeyes have been exceptional at winning season openers. A win on Monday night would mark Iowa's 27th consecutive season-opening win, which spans head coach Jan Jensen's entire coaching career in Iowa City (24 seasons as an assistant head coach, entering third as head coach). This will also be Iowa's 16th consecutive season beginning the year at home, having tipped off every season at Carver-Hawkeye Arena since 2011-12.
