No. 11 Iowa vs. No. 15 Michigan State women’s basketball glance: Time, TV, game notes (Jan. 18, 2026)

What: No. 11 Iowa (15-2, 6-0) vs. No. 15 Michigan State (17-1, 6-1), Big Ten women’s basketball

When/where: 7 p.m. Sunday, Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Iowa City

TV: BTN

Radio: Hawkeye Radio Network affiliates

Iowa’s next game: At Maryland, 5 p.m. (CT) Thursday.

What to know: Michigan State has won nine consecutive games since a puzzling loss at Wisconsin on Dec. 7. The Spartans’ 17-1 start is the best in school history.

The Spartans fought past Nebraska, 73-71, Thursday at East Lansing.

Iowa moved back into a first-place tie along UCLA with a 74-66 victory over Oregon on Thursday. Michigan State is a half-game back, as are Ohio State and Michigan.

For the Hawkeyes, this marks the first leg of a five-game stretch in which four opponents are ranked. Iowa has No. 12 Maryland on the road (Thursday), then hosts No. 14 Ohio State (next Sunday) and plays at No. 4 UCLA (Feb. 1) as the second part of its Los Angeles trip.

Speaking of L.A., southern California native Addie Deal posted her career-high with 18 points for the Hawkeyes against Oregon, making all four of her 3-point attempts. Hannah Stuelke added 18 points, eight rebounds and a career-best eight assists.

Michigan State leads the Big Ten in 3-point percentage (.378) and is second in scoring offense (87.6 ppg), field-goal percentage (.502), fewest turnovers (11.9 per game) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.64-to-1).

Iowa leads the series 44-31, and has won the last six. The Hawkeyes’ most recent loss to MSU at home was in 2016.

Six Spartans are averaging at least 9.6 points per game, led by 6-foot-3 senior forward Grace VanSlooten (15.0 ppg).

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com