Iowa

What Teri Moren Said After Indiana Won At Iowa 74-67

Published

1 year ago

January 13, 2025

What Teri Moren Said After Indiana Won At Iowa 74-67

Indiana women’s basketball coach made it clear that just because some of the star power left the scene from the annual Indiana-Iowa game doesn’t mean the Hoosiers took their task on Sunday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena any less seriously.

Indiana’s approach paid dividends in a 74-67 victory for the Hoosiers, their third Big Ten road victory of the season.

Teri Moren spoke to the media about the game about the triumph. Here’s what she had to say.

Opening statement …

Moren: Once again, a great crowd for Iowa. They make this place such a difficult place to win. And we’ve been on the other end of this several times, so it feels really good today to be on the other side of it and get out of here with the win. Really proud of our our guys and how hard they played. We kept the lead, we built the lead, we kept it, we didn’t lose the lead, but they obviously came crawling back at us. I felt like we just made big play after big play after big play. Of course, Yarden (Garzon) had a special night, but she’s a special player as we know. But I thought all of them. I thought Syd Parrish, Strip (Karoline Striplin) making the shot when we were only up (four) with a minute to go at the end of the shot clock. That was a huge, huge play for us. I thought Shay (Ciezki), although didn’t shoot the ball great tonight was good defensively. We’re just happy to get out of here with a win. Really pleased with my group, how hard they played. This is a difficult league, as you guys all know. Iowa is was going to be just fine. But tonight, we’re happy to be getting back on that plane and headed back to Bloomington with the win game.

On closing a late-game situation …

Moren: I think it gives our kids great confidence. But as I said to our staff, I was disappointed. We have to be so much better in late game scenarios, situations as a staff. And I thought today we failed them with that. We have to be on point with what the strategy is in those moments. Where the ball needs to be and whose hands it needs to be in and so forth. I think we were all a little bit caught off guard that they didn’t foul us and put us at the free throw line. Everybody has different strategies, right? We got to be better, but I got to be better. Our staff has to be better in order to help those kids. But I think for them, with the outcome, they’re probably thinking about the end of the game. They’re probably just thinking about getting out of here with the win.

On Indiana’s defensive effort in holding Iowa to 33.9% shooting …

Moren: That’s every night in the Big 10. You have to have a tremendous defensive effort. Playing here, playing Iowa, was no different. We knew it was going to take a great effort from every one of us. There were moments where we gave up some stuff, but they’re really good. They’re really good offensively, and they got great tradition, and Jan (Jansen) is doing a terrific job. Very competitive environment, and the crowd just makes it that much better because of how much they’re into it. But part of our strategy was to try to keep the crowd as quiet as we could today, and we did, and then we didn’t at times. Our bugaboo right now is the rebounding. I think, the third game, fourth game that we’ve gotten out rebounding. And so we’ve got to fix that.

On a technical foul on Iowa’s Sydney Affholter …

Moren: They didn’t even give me an explanation. I think you know she had scored, so I think there was probably some excitement on her part. And I think you’re not supposed to ever touch the ball after that. Normally, it is a warning, but I don’t know if they felt it was excessive. I kind of missed it, and so they didn’t really give me an explanation, I’m sure you’d have to ask Jan that.

On Karoline Striplin …

Moren: She was, as Shay was, such a great piece for us to get out of the portal. She’s been steady defensively. They (Striplin and Lilly Meister) have different frames, right? So they guard differently in the fact that they both guard hard, but Lilly doesn’t have the girth, I guess, that that Strip has. Offensively, a little bit different, but they can both stretch it out, even though you didn’t see him do that tonight. Strip has hit some big time shots for us. She was perfect at Penn State. But the one tonight, at the end of the shot clock, the one in the first half on the baby baseline there, that was a big shot for us as well. She’s been dependable and we’re so grateful that she chose to come here and spend her last year with us.

On Chloe Moore-McNeil …

Moren: She’s our leader. And we’ve been on the other side of this, as you guys know, right? She and Syd both were that more determined today to come in here and not go home without a win. She’s our heartbeat. She’s our leader. And once again, she was really good.

On Sydney Parrish playing with foul trouble …

Moren: Syd’s really smart, a high IQ kit and so understands how important it is for her to be in the game for us. There’s a lot of trust there with Syd, trusting that she’s not going to be reckless and pick up some cheap foul that she can play within herself, but still help us and still be aggressive. And then Yarden was just – the other night against Northwestern, where she was not very good, she’d be the first one to tell you that. She had six turnovers, didn’t shoot it great. So for her to bounce back, but that’s just Yarden. Yarden is built for moments, right? Somebody asked about her first one, even if that didn’t go in, she was going to keep shooting because that’s just Yarden. Tonight she certainly had a special night.

After the star battles of recent seasons, did it help to have the heat turned down a bit for this season’s matchup …

Moren: Well, I don’t know who turned it down. We certainly didn’t. We have a tremendous amount of respect for Iowa. Always have. Even though Lisa (Bluder, former Iowa coach) is no longer here, we have a tremendous amount of respect. Jan was on her left side for a lot of years. This is an excellent program that’s been left in excellent hands. We didn’t approach it any different. We really didn’t. It was, we’re going to go into a place where the crowd is going to be into it, they’re going to be terrific, and our job is to go in there and try to keep them as quiet as we could. I don’t know who said that but that is never a conversation in in our locker room.

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Iowa

Iowa House OKs ‘3 strikes’ bill with 20-year prison terms. What to know

Published

3 hours ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

Iowa House OKs ‘3 strikes’ bill with 20-year prison terms. What to know

Iowans who commit multiple serious crimes would face a mandatory 20-year prison sentence under a “three strikes” bill passed by House lawmakers.
Republicans said the bill would keep Iowans safe and “prioritize victims and public safety over criminals.”
A nonpartisan state agency says the bill would disproportionately impact Black Iowans and could require the state to spend millions to build a new prison.

Repeat offenders convicted of multiple serious crimes would receive a mandatory 20-year prison sentence under a bill passed by House lawmakers.

House lawmakers debated for more than an hour about high costs, lack of prison space and the bill’s impact on Black Iowans before voting 68-23 to pass House File 2542, sending it to the Iowa Senate.

Seven Democrats, including Minority Leader Brian Meyer, D-Des Moines, joined Republicans in voting in favor of the bill.

“It will put public safety first,” said the bill’s floor manager, Rep. Steven Holt, R-Denison. “It will ensure that the debt to victims and society is paid. It will prioritize victims and public safety over criminals. It will establish real and effective deterrence that is nonexistent in our current system. It will reduce chaos and violence in our society.”

Here’s what to know about the bill.

What would the House Republican three strikes bill do?

Iowans who accumulate three strikes would face a mandatory 20-year prison sentence, with no parole, under the bill.

That would replace Iowa’s current law that says habitual offenders must serve a minimum three-year prison sentence before they are eligible for parole.

All felonies, as well as aggravated misdemeanors involving sexual abuse, domestic abuse, assault and organized retail theft would be considered level-one offenses that are worth one full strike.

Other aggravated misdemeanors, as well as serious misdemeanors involving assault, domestic abuse and criminal mischief would be considered level-two offenses worth half a strike each.

Lawmakers amended the bill to remove theft, harassment and possession of a controlled substance from the crimes that would count toward a person’s strikes.

And the amendment specifies that the bill would only apply to convictions that occur beginning July 1, 2026.

If someone is arrested and convicted of multiple offenses, only the most serious charge would count towards the defendant’s strikes.

Convictions would not count toward someone’s total if more than 20 years passes between a prior conviction and their current conviction.

Rep. Ross Wilburn, D-Ames, tried unsuccessfully to amend the bill to say that only a violent crime would qualify as someone’s third strike, but Republicans rejected the amendment.

“The bill still scores murder, felony embezzlement and felony theft the same, even though they are very different crimes,” Wilburn said. “One point is one point and three gets you 20 years with no ability for parole or judicial discretion.”

Holt said the legislation leaves room for judicial and prosecutorial discretion.

“There are deferred sentences, there are plea bargains,” he said. “There is plenty of opportunity for grace and judicial discretion in the legislation that we are proposing.”

Bill could cost millions, require Iowa to build a new prison, agency says

A fiscal analysis of the bill by the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency said it could cost Iowa nearly $165 million more per year by 2031 based on the cost of housing inmates for longer prison stays.

FY 2027: $33 million
FY 2028: $66 million
FY 2029: $99 million
FY 2030: $132 million
FY 2031: $164.9 million

The agency said if the bill had been in effect between fiscal year 2020 and fiscal year 2025, there would have been 5,373 people who qualified for the 20-year mandatory minimum sentence.

“An increase in the prison population due to increased (length of stay) will require the DOC to build additional prison(s),” the agency states. “The size, security and other features that a future prison may require cannot be determined, but costs would be significant.”

The analysis noted that South Dakota appropriated $650 million last fall to build a 1,500-bed prison.

As of March 1, the Iowa Department of Corrections’ website describes the state’s prison system as being overcrowded by 25%, with 8,705 inmates compared to a capacity of 6,990.

The Office of the State Public Defender could see a projected cost increase of $1.6 million due to an increased number of trials resulting from the legislation.

But the agency’s estimates come with a caveat — the Department of Corrections did not respond to its requests for data.

“The LSA has not received a response to multiple requests for information from the DOC,” the note states. “Without additional information, the LSA cannot estimate the total fiscal impact of the bill.”

Holt called the fiscal note “an embarrassment to the Department of Corrections” and “an agenda masquerading as math.”

“It is clear, in my judgment, that because they did not like the legislation they went all out and extreme to create a fiscal note that cannot be taken seriously in its assumptions,” he said. “It assumes that nothing will change, that there will be no deterrent factor and that the numbers will continue as usual.”

Black Iowans would be disproportionately impacted by the law

The Legislative Services Agency analysis says the bill “may disproportionately impact Black individuals if trends remain constant.”

Of the 29,438 people convicted in fiscal year 2025 of felonies and aggravated misdemeanors that constitute a level one offense under the bill, the agency said about 70% were White, 22% were Black and 9% were other races.

Iowa’s overall population is 83% White, 4% Black and 13% other races, the agency said.

It’s not clear how the bill’s impact would change to account for the House amendment removing some crimes from counting towards the three strikes.

“Expanding three-strike laws will intensify disparities — and that’s what this statement shows — by mandating longer sentences, limiting judicial discretion,” Wilburn said. “We already have a habitual offender statute. We already have one in place. We have a 10-year low in recidivism in our correctional system.”

Rep. Angel Ramirez, D-Cedar Rapids, said California’s three strikes law, passed in the 1990s, worsened racial disparities, and “Iowa is about to repeat the same mistake.”

“I urge every member here, do not pass legislation that our own minority impact statement tells us will deepen inequality in our state,” Ramirez said.

Holt said minority communities in Iowa are impacted by crime and that the legislation “will make citizens of all colors safer.”

And he said the minority impact statement “tells only one side of the story, doesn’t it? It tells the criminal’s story. What about the victim’s story?”

“What about the mother who will continue to tuck her kids in at night and read them Bible stories because she never became the next victim of a violent career criminal?” he said. “Where is that data point in the minority impact statement?”

House lawmakers also approved separate legislation that would increase Iowa’s statewide bond schedule, Senate File 2399.

That bill passed on a vote of 74-19.

Iowans could see more information on judges’ rulings

Iowans would have access to more information about judges’ rulings ahead of the state’s judicial retention elections under a separate measure, House File 2719, which passed on a 73-19 vote.

The Iowa secretary of state’s office would be required to publish information including:

The percentage of cases in which the judge set a bond amount lower than the state’s bond schedule
The frequency that the judge releases someone on their own recognizance for a violent offense compared to a nonviolent offense
The frequency that the judge’s final sentence is lower than statutory recommendations or a prosecutor’s recommendations
The number of times the judge issues a deferred judgement, deferred sentence or suspended sentence
The number of times the judge’s rulings are reversed on appeal due to abuse of discretion or error of law
The average time it takes the judge to rule on a motion or case
The number of cases the judge has resolved compared to the number of cases on the judge’s docket

The data would have to be displayed with a five-year trend line beginning five years after the bill takes effect.

The Secretary of State’s Office would also be required to maintain a searchable database of all judicial opinions and orders for the judge’s current term and the preceding six years. The decisions would be redacted when appropriate.

And judges would have the opportunity to write a 2,000-word personal statement on their judicial philosophy or data trends present in their rulings.

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on X at @sgrubermiller.

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Iowa

Man sentenced for killing 4 people appeals his sentence to the Iowa Supreme Court

Published

16 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

Man sentenced for killing 4 people appeals his sentence to the Iowa Supreme Court

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Luke Truesdell’s attorney has filed as of Sunday to appeal his sentence to the Iowa Supreme Court.

Truesdell was sentenced last week to three consecutive life sentences plus 50 years for the deaths of four people killed in rural Linn County.

A jury convicted Luke Truesdell, 36, in November on the first-degree murder of Brent Brown, 34; his girlfriend, Keonna Ryan, 26, of Cedar Rapids; and Amanda Parker, 33, of Vinton. They also found him guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Romondus Cooper, 44, of Cedar Rapids.

His attorneys previously argued multiple reasons for a retrial that could potentially be brought up again.

They said that one juror was overheard talking about news on the case.

They also said the prosecutors inflamed the jury, rather than focusing on the facts.

His lawyers said there is no direct evidence that Truesdell committed the murders.

Truesdell’s defense also pointed to Truesdell’s father, Larry Tuesdell, who was found covered in blood at the scene but never fully investigated. Authorities have not been able to locate Larry.

The state disagreed, citing overwhelming evidence including DNA on the murder weapon, eyewitness testimony and video of Truesdell entering the garage where the four people were found dead.

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Iowa

2026 Iowa high school boys basketball state tournament brackets, schedule

Published

1 day ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

2026 Iowa high school boys basketball state tournament brackets, schedule

The Iowa high school boys state basketball tournament is just around the corner and the full field has now been set.

By March 13, four teams will be crowned state champions and there are plenty of worthy squads vying for the title. On Tuesday, the final brackets were released and we now have a clear picture of the eight teams in each class hoping to take home the trophy.

Here’s a look at the first-round pairings and the full state tournament schedule for next week’s IHSAA action.