Hannah Stuelke's trophy case is getting crowded. The Iowa Hawkeyes star just added another national honor to her collection after a dominant week against two top-15 teams.

Over the past week, her on-court impact powered Iowa against No. 13 Maryland and No. 11 Ohio State. And for her efforts, she’s been named Naismith Women’s College Player of the Week.

And looking at her performances, it's a no-brainer. In her last two games, she averaged 15.0 points while shooting 46.2% from the field. She also posted 13 rebounds, three assists, and one block and steal per game.

And she didn’t just stop here. She recorded double-doubles in both wins, pushing her season total to a team-leading six. So far, through 20 games this season, she has averaged 14.3 points on an efficient 54.2% shooting. It's a clear jump from her 12.7 points and 49.8% shooting stats from last season. And her performance is getting recognition from her team.

Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Jan Jensen spoke about her in glowing terms. "She was nostalgic about being a senior and feeling a little bit of the pressure. Okay, I’m a senior, we’ve got a new group and missing what was. But in a good way. And now you’ve got a lot of new kids and then feeling that pressure, I’ve got to carry it."

As one of the few seniors on the team, Stuelke will be a crucial leader, especially after senior guard Taylor McCabe's injury. And that's one quality Jensen sees in her Player of the Week.

Even Setbacks Won't Slow Hannah Stuelke

"She had a tougher game at Northwestern. But I told her after the game, I’ve had few times when I’ve been more proud of her. She willed us in huddles. Because she shot real poorly, but you could just see a senior that had taken another step and said, ‘everybody get on.’"

Against the Northwestern Wildcats, Stuelke managed only 8 points and 5 rebounds. However, she managed a double-double in the next game against the Indiana Hoosiers.

Moving forward, the team plans to lean on its depth chart. She's one of the few players who were part of the team that made it to back-to-back national championship games in 2023 and 2024.

Up next, the Hawkeyes travel to Los Angeles to face USC at the Galen Center on January 29. Can Stuelke keep this momentum going?

Written by

Yashika Dutta

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar