Iowa women’s basketball posted a convincing win over Penn State on Thursday afternoon, 96-78, for its 12th win of the season. The Hawkeyes now sit at 12-6 on the season and 8-6 in conference play, while the Lady Lions fall to 8-10 overall and 5-9 in conference.

Penn State went on a 9-0 run after the Hawkeyes first basket of the game, and at the first timeout of the game, the Lady Lions led, 11-2. Junior center Monika Czinano broke the Lions’ run after the timeout, but the Hawkeyes trailed after 10 minutes, 23-17.

To begin the second quarter, Penn State went on an 8-2 run, and at the eight-minute timeout in the second, the Lady Lions extended their lead against Iowa, 31-19. Iowa responded with a 7-0 run out of the timeout, but Penn State dominated from the perimeter with seven 3-pointers to extend its lead to 11 at halftime, 52-41. 

Sophomore guard Kate Martin came out hot in the second half, sinking a 3-point shot in Iowa’s first possession of the half. Penn State responded with one of its own, keeping its lead at 11.

After junior center Monika Czinano was fouled on a layup, she hit her free throw to bring the Hawkeyes within eight points. A subsequent shot from downtown by Martin brought the Hawkeyes within five points, 58-53, at the 6:48 mark of the third quarter.

The Hawkeyes took their first lead of the game with two minutes left in the third quarter, as freshman point guard Caitlin Clark drained a long 3-point shot. 

As the Hawkeyes and Lady Lions traded shots to end the first quarter, Iowa went into the last ten minutes of the game with its largest lead so far, 69-67.

The Hawkeyes extended their lead to four points to begin the fourth quarter with a shot by Clark, and the Hawkeyes supplemented that with a 6-0 run to start the fourth quarter.

And sophomore guard McKenna Warnock didn’t let an elbow to the face affect her with seven-and-a-half minutes left in the game, sitting down for only thirty seconds of game time before checking back into the game as the Hawkeyes took a 78-69 lead.

The Hawkeyes reversed the Lady Lions’ 11 point lead at halftime as they took one of their own, 81-70, at the 5:11 mark in the fourth quarter.

And after that, Iowa never let its lead under eight points. With two and a half minutes left, Martin threw a cross court pass to Clark for a layup in transition to extend Iowa’s lead, 89-73.

To cap off Iowa’s win, Clark hit a 3-point shot with 30 seconds left. to extend Iowa’s lead to 18 points.

The Hawkeyes next matchup is at Maryland on Tuesday at noon on BTN.

Hawkeyes struggle on offensive boards

Iowa was heavily out-rebounded by Penn State, as the Lady Lions collected 48 rebounds compared to the Hawkeyes 31. The Hawkeyes especially struggled on offensive rebounds, as they were out-rebounded 4-25 throughout the 40 minutes.

Martin impresses in first maskless game

Martin ditched her protective face mask for the first time in six weeks after she broke her nose on Jan. 3, and came out hot for the Hawkeyes. She dished out seven assists in the first half and took control of the 3-point line in the second, going 5-5 from the perimeter.

Martin ended the day with a double-double,  posting 19 points and 11 assists.

Clark continues 30-point streak

With a 3-point shot from the Tigerhawk with 30 seconds left in the game, Clark collected 32 points on Thursday, for her fourth consecutive game with 30 or more points.

She ended the game with 32 points, six rebounds, and seven assists.