After Sunday’s physically draining contest at home against Michigan State, Iowa had to compete against Penn State Thursday night without the help of Monika Czinano — one of the team’s key post players.

Despite that challenge, Iowa showed up and dominated Penn State, 77-66, for their ninth straight win in the Big Ten.

The result was a comfortable win in the end, but head coach Lisa Bluder would have liked to see Iowa hold the strong lead all the way until the final buzzer.

“We have to stay engaged, even when we have that big lead and even when we’re on the road,” Bluder said. “Hopefully we learned that lesson today.”

The Hawkeyes raced out to an early advantage, going on a 9-0 run to start the game behind five points from Mckenna Warnock. Despite the hot start, Iowa gave the lead right back as Penn State rallied with an 11-2 run of their own. Penn State guard Kamara McDaniel torched Iowa for eight points in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Hawkeyes turned around their early offensive woes, as the team shot well above 40 percent for the quarter. Although most of the second quarter remained tight, Iowa managed to pull away toward the end and ignite the offense.

The team got to the free-throw line and made several 3’s to close out the half on a 17-2 run and give itself a 16-point cushion to coast on going into the second half.

Iowa’s scoring was very much a team effort, with four players hitting eight points in the first half and four players tallying two assists early.

The second half started with a bang, as a desperate Penn State forced a much quicker tempo in search of some offense. Although Iowa allowed more points, the Hawkeyes continued to shoot well and hold a sturdy advantage.

The lead came almost entirely from the starting five, with the bench contributing just two points the entire game.

After leading by as many as 21, the Nittany Lions came roaring back to get the game to single-digits in the closing stages, but Iowa’s lead was too much to come recover from.

Kathleen Doyle once again led Iowa in scoring with 23 points, while Mckenna Warnock stepped up in Monika Czinano’s absence with 16 points of her own.

Alexis Sevillian had one of her best games of the season so far, adding 15 points to the Iowa total, while Makenzie Meyer added 14 of her own.

Iowa struggled with turnovers but forced an incredible 24, including three steals from Sevillian, Doyle, and Meyer.

The Hawkeyes were outrebounded 40-31 by Penn State, with Ollinger leading the Black and Gold with nine rebounds of her own.

Penn State’s Kamaria McDaniel was contained in the second half. After exploding for 13 early on, McDaniel was held to just one jumper from the floor in the second half.

Iowa has a quick turnaround with another road test in Ann Arbor at 11 a.m. Sunday.