The Michigan State Spartans proved to be too much for the Iowa Hawkeyes in East Lansing, Michigan, on Saturday, as the Iowa women’s basketball team fell, 86-82. The Hawkeyes now sit at 4-1 on the season and 1-1 in Big Ten conference play.

Iowa did not hold a lead throughout the entire 40 minutes and trailed by as many as 19 points in the first half. At halftime, Michigan State led, 44-28.

Iowa picked up in the second half to shorten Michigan State’s lead. With nine seconds left, sophomore McKenna Warnock hit two free throws to bring the Hawkeyes within two points, but it wasn’t enough to overtake the Spartans.

“Obviously, I’m disappointed with our start,” head coach Lisa Bluder said. “This is several games in a row that we’ve just gotten off to really poor starts. We battle back, but on the road it’s tougher to battle back against a really good defensive team like Michigan State.”

In the second half, the Hawkeyes were trying to stage a comeback similar to that against Iowa State earlier in the week, when Iowa erased an 18-point deficit to win. But Bluder said the efforts against the Spartans were “too little, too late.”

“I think we made better decisions offensively at home in the fourth quarter against Iowa State than we did tonight,” Bluder said. “It was just the little things.”

Despite the loss, Bluder said she was proud of how her team persevered in the second half.

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The Iowa defense struggled against Michigan State, especially on the perimeter. The Spartans had free rein on the 3-point line, attempting 30 from downtown. Michigan State held Iowa to only 4-of-20 shooting from deep, and freshman Caitlin Clark had all four 3-pointers.

“We knew that they had 3-point shooters, definitely,” Bluder said. “But I think they did a better job in transition than we were expecting, and our transition defense was not good at the beginning of the game, so they had some good looks, they had some open looks… We gave up so many 3-point plays tonight.”

Michigan State guard Alyza Winston tormented Iowa at the 3-point line, shooting 6-of-12 from deep. Winston ended the night with 25 points to lead the Spartans in points.

Clark was a bright spot in Iowa’s loss, posting a career high 35 points, along with seven rebounds and four assists. Junior center Monika Czinano joined Clark in double-digits with 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting but fouled out with just over a minute left in the game.

The Hawkeyes will have Sunday and Monday off because of finals, and Bluder isn’t planning on implementing any major changes on the court ahead of Ohio State. She noted that with an entire week, the team will have more time to scout and prep for the Buckeyes.

“We’ll just be able to focus on getting better a little bit this week,” Bluder said. “It’s finals week, so you don’t want to throw a lot of new stuff in because they have their minds preoccupied.”

Iowa is back in action after finals, as it takes on Ohio State in Columbus on Dec. 19.