Sycamore grad Kylie Feuerbach has fun in final home game for Iowa

IOWA CITY – Kylie Feuerbach’s last game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena was going to be memorable no matter what. She and her four fellow Iowa Hawkeye seniors made their final game on their home court one to remember for all the right reasons.

The Sycamore native ignited the crowd with a 3-pointer 1:32 into the game, then hit another 1:12 into the third quarter to spark a game-changing run as the Hawkeyes pulled away for an 81-66 win over Wisconsin – their 21st straight senior day victory.

“That was super fun. It’s always nice when it goes in, but in front of that type of crowd, it was really fun, too,” Feuerbach said. “We have such a good turnout every single game, and so being able to hit that 3 and hearing the crowd erupt, it was super fun.”

Feuerbach finished with eight points, three assists, a rebound and a steal without a turnover while notching a team-best +15 in her 30 minutes on the court.

She’s averaging 6.2 points, 2.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.2 steals in 24.6 minutes per game.

The first half was a little closer than the Hawkeyes would’ve liked, but it took them a bit to settle in from the emotion of playing their final game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“Coach J [Jan Jensen], she mentioned that we were going to take in the emotions, but that 40 minutes we’re going to treat just like a normal game,” Feuerbach said. “I think that really helped, because you have those emotions, but we also knew the 40 minutes doesn’t change, we have to stay locked in.

“I did try to take everything in, just take in the moments. Before we started the game, I tried to look up and take in the crowd, because there’s really no crowd like this. We have a lot of basketball left, but I just tried to cherish it, and just take it in at Carver.”

In the end, it was a 15-point win, and then the seniors got to soak in the admiration from an appreciative fan base one more time. Shortly after the game, video tributes to all five Iowa seniors – Feuerbach, Sydney Affolter, Lucy Olsen, Addison O’Grady and AJ Ediger – played on the scoreboard as they walked out with their families, and each one of them got a standing ovation from a sold-out arena.

Jensen also had words to say about each senior in turn.

“Kylie Feuerbach, she’s a lesson in [overcoming] adversity,” she said. “… We’re just so grateful for the example and for everything that you have done and meant – and how about your defense setting the tone every single game.”

The quintet spent about a minute together on the court late in the fourth quarter before Jensen pulled them out one at a time to soak in the adoration from a deafening crowd. They shared a hug at the end of the bench, and then again as they joined up during the postgame ceremony.

“I’m so beyond grateful for the group of girls, and in my specific class, I’m so grateful for them – and the girls before me, I’m so grateful for them. I could not have asked for a better group of girls to be around every single year,” said Feuerbach, who transferred to Iowa after her freshman season at Iowa State. “That’s huge props to the coaches for who they recruit.

“If you don’t want to go to Iowa, I don’t know what you’re doing, because the amount of respect we have for each other, the fun, the competitiveness, we have that balance between knowing that we have that potential but also having fun while we’re doing it. It’s not like that at every program, especially at this high of a level. I’m just best friends with all of them, and to go through these four years with all of them, it’s been really fun.”

Feuerbach and her classmates took special pride in serving as the link between Iowa’s last core group – learning from the likes of WNBA players Caitlin Clark and Kate Martin – and mentoring the next group that includes five stellar freshmen this year and three more top-100 signees coming in next year.

“It’s been really cool being able to experience one side of things and now going into another, it’s just a bridge and transition for the program,” Feuerbach said. “It means a lot to us, and it’s been really fun.”

It was Iowa’s 20th win of the season, the ninth straight season to reach that mark – and 16th time in the past 18 seasons – and served as validation for a team that had a lot of turnover after back-to-back runs to the national championship game.

“That’s great to keep that streak going,” Feuerbach said. “I think going into this year, people didn’t have the highest expectations for us, with the rebuilding and almost a completely new team. It’s just another testament to how hard we work, and it’s just great to have that 20 wins. Now we’re going into March, and it’s going to be a really fun month.”

As she and her teammates prepare to make more memories in one final postseason run before calling it a career, Feuerbach said the things she’ll remember most when she looks back at her Iowa career aren’t the wins and losses, but the experiences with her teammates and the people around the program.

“I genuinely could not give you a specific game or games that we’ve won or that we’ve lost, but you remember the noises and the crowd and the eruptions that break out,” she said. “Just the encounters; for me it’s a lot about the people that I’m around, so that’s something that I’ll always remember and cherish, just the people that I was blessed to have in my life during these four years, and that’s just a huge part of it.”