Update: Hannah Stuelke has been ruled out of Iowa’s regular-season finale at Wisconsin
After No. 9 Iowa women’s basketball (23-5, 13-3 Big Ten) escaped with an 82-78 win against Illinois (19-9, 9-8 Big Ten) in front of another raucous crowd at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Feb. 26, Hawkeyes’ coach Jan Jensen addressed senior forward Hannah Stuelke’s injury. She also indicated whether she envisions the ailment leading to any long-term complications heading into postseason play.
The 6-foot-2 senior forward out of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was injured early in the first quarter of Thursday’s game when she collided with an Illinois player while diving on the court for a loose ball. In the collision, her left elbow was rolled under the Fighting Illini player. Stuelke remained down and in pain before officials blew the play dead to tend to the Hawkeyes’ senior star.
Stuelke immediately headed to the Hawkeyes locker room accompanied by trainers and medical personnel. After receiving treatment, she eventually returned to the bench and subbed into the game a few minutes later.
“It was pretty sore, and we subbed her a little bit,” Jensen said in her postgame media availability.
Stuelke finished the game with 18 points on 7-for-13 shooting from the floor and 4-for-6 shooting at the free-throw line, to go with five rebounds, four assists, two steals and one block in 31 minutes of play.
Jensen noted that in-game adrenaline likely blocked immediate soreness in Stuelke’s elbow, but she added she does not believe the injury will be season-altering.
“I think there was just a lot of emotion, and I don’t know because she played through some adrenaline in Nebraska with her little shoulder incident. So now, it was pretty ginger in the locker room, but I don’t foresee anything that’s season-altering, but it is pretty sore.”
Although the tone of Jensen’s comments provides a sense of relief for many Hawkeyes fans, time will tell how much the soreness affects Stuelke over the next few days. Iowa has its Big Ten regular-season finale on Sunday (March 1) at rival Wisconsin (13-15, 5-12 Big Ten) from the Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin.
The Hawkeyes and Badgers are expected to tip off at 2 p.m. CT, with the game streamed exclusively on B1G+ (subscription required).
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