By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

Iowa women’s basketball coach Jan Jensen got the text from her daughter on Monday, informing her that the Hawkeyes had moved into the top 10 of the Associated Press poll for the first time since the end of 2024 season.

It was a big moment for the program — the last time the Hawkeyes, ranked 10th in this week’s poll, had been in that high of a spot, it was the end of the Caitlin Clark era as well as what would be the last season of Lisa Bluder as the Hawkeyes’ head coach.

It is one moment, though, Jensen said on Tuesday.

“I think it’s nice,” she said. “I don’t get hung up on those. It’s kind of where you want to be at the end. It’s a funny thing, you know, you try to block out all this noise for your team. You’re stacking days, is what I really talked to them about. And then you hit another plateau, and then there’s another level of excitement or chatter, (or) expectations.”

Jensen is aware of what’s looming for the Hawkeyes (16-2 overall, 7-0 Big Ten). There is Thursday’s game at No. 15 Maryland (17-3, 5-3), Sunday’s home game with No. 12 Ohio State (17-2, 6-1), then next weekend’s road trip to USC (11-7, 3-4) and No. 3 UCLA (17-1, 7-0).

“It was a nice moment,” Jensen said. “It’s a nice day. It’s a lot of good respect. But I think we clearly know we’re in the middle of a big conference season with great, great teams, and every day is a battle. So we took a moment to celebrate where we are at the moment, but spend a lot more moments on where we want to go.”

The Hawkeyes have won six consecutive games, building one of the nation’s best resumés — they are No. 13 in the NCAA’s NET rankings with a 4-2 record in Quad 1 games. This upcoming stretch, though, will have a heavy influence on the rest of the season.

Maryland is coming off a 97-67 loss at UCLA on Sunday, and Jensen knows what a loss like that can do to a team.

I’m sure they’ve critiqued it, and they’re frustrated about this,” she said. “You’re going to be extra motivated and you want to feel real good about things real quick. So that is definitely going to add another level of challenge to our cause.”

Maryland has never been an easy place for the Hawkeyes. Iowa won 93-85 there in the 2023-24 season, but had lost the seven previous games there by an average of 17.3 points.

“We’re going into the situation of a top-ranked team that’s salty and is upset, and so their pressure (defense), which is going to be great no matter what, is going to be ratcheted at the beginning of that game, even another level,” Jensen said. “So we’re going to have to really handle all of that.”

It’s why everything has to be fleeting, Jensen said. The top-10 ranking? It’s nice, but…

“It’s a special place, and I’m just a lucky coach that gets to sit here. So, yeah, it was a moment, but just a moment. Mostly, it’s all about everything we want to have happen in the next couple or three months.”

Photo: Iowa’s Hannah Stuelke heads down court after scoring in Sunday’s win over Michigan State. (Photo from Iowa Athletic Communications)