1987–88 Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball team

The 1987–88 Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball team represented the University of Iowa as members of the Big Ten Conference during the 1987–88 NCAA women's basketball season. The Hawkeyes, led by fifth-year head coach C. Vivian Stringer, played their home games in Iowa City, Iowa at Carver–Hawkeye Arena. They finished the season 29–2 overall, 17–1 in Big Ten play, winning the conference championship. The team finished with the highest final ranking of any Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball team at No. 2 in the final AP poll. For the second straight season, Iowa advanced to the Elite Eight in the women's NCAA basketball tournament.

With big expectations entering the season, the Hawkeyes were ranked No. 6 in the preseason AP poll – the lowest ranking they would have all year. The team won its first 22 games, including victories over five top 10 teams, highlighted by takedowns of No. 2 Auburn and No. 1 Texas in the Orange Bowl tournament in Miami. The Hawkeyes themselves rose to the No. 1 ranking, a first ever for a Big Ten women's program, a perch they would hold onto for eight weeks. Iowa's lone regular season loss was a 58–54 setback at No. 8 Ohio State. The Hawkeyes finished the regular season 27–1 (17–1 Big Ten).

Ranked No. 2 in the final three AP polls, the Hawkeyes received the No. 1 seed in the West region of the NCAA tournament. Iowa defeated No. 8 seed, 19th ranked Stephen F. Austin and No. 4 seed, 15th ranked USC to reach the regional final. Iowa faced a team they defeated earlier in the season, No. 2 seed and 7th ranked Cal State Long Beach, but were beaten by 20 points in a virtual home game for the team from Long Beach.

Senior guard Michelle Edwards would be the first Iowa women's basketball player to have her number retired in 1990.

Schedule and results
!colspan=9 style=| Regular season

!colspan=9 style=| NCAA tournament