INDIANAPOLIS — No. 6 seeded Iowa women’s basketball defeated No. 7 seed Michigan State,  87-72, in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse Friday.

Iowa will play No. 1 seed Maryland in the Big Ten Championship game Saturday at 1 p.m CST on ESPNU.

This was was the Hawkeyes 18th win of the 2020-21 season.

Monika Czinano scored the first points with a layup 59 seconds into the game. From there until the under-five minute timeout of the first quarter, both teams played pretty even, with Michigan State up 14-13 at the 3:58 mark of the quarter. Each team shot 5-of-10 from the field by that point of the game.

The steady play from both teams continued for the rest of the first quarter as the quarter ended with the teams tied at 24. The Hawkeyes had three 3-pointers in the quarter, while the Spartans had one. Caitlin Clark had five assists in the first quarter.

The play continued to be consistent in the first five minutes of the second quarter with the game tied at 33 at the under-five minute timeout. By that point, the Spartans were shooting about 54 percent from the floor, while the Hawkeyes were shooting about 52 percent at the 4:13 mark of the second quarter.

Michigan State finished the first half on a 6-1 run and led 41-40 at halftime. The Spartans shot 51.5 percent from the floor in the first half, while the Hawkeyes shot 46.9 percent. Both teams had four 3-pointers. Czinano led all Hawkeyes at that point of the game with 13 points, and Clark got an assist in the second quarter to extend her total to six. Warnock led the Hawkeyes in rebound with six.

Iowa got off running quickly at the beginning of the second half. Czinano got two layups within the first two minutes, and Warnock followed those points with a 3-pointer. Sharon Goodman made a jumper, and Gabbie Marshall made a fast break layup, causing Michigan State to call a timeout at the 6:11 mark of the third quarter when Iowa was up 51-46.

The Spartans quickly closed the deficit to one point with a 3-pointer and a layup, and the Hawkeyes were up 52-51 at the under-five minute timeout of the third quarter.

But the Hawkeyes got their lead extended as the score was 64-57 with Clark making a 3-pointer seconds before the quarter expired. The Hawkeyes shot 53.3 percent from the floor during the quarter. Clark led the Hawkeyes in points in the quarter with eight.

The start of the fourth quarter didn’t slow down the Hawkeyes, as the Spartans took a timeout at the 6:05 mark of the quarter after Iowa gained a 77-62 lead with an 11-0 run. Clark hit two 3-pointers and Warnock one in those first few minutes of the quarter.

The Spartans did get on a run after their timeout, and they brought the Hawkeyes’ lead down to nine at the 4:00 mark of the quarter, causing the Hawkeyes to call a timeout. After that, the Hawkeyes extended their lead and evaporated any chance of a Spartan comeback.

Czinano dominates the post again

After scoring a career-high 38 points Wednesday and 20 points Thursday, Czinano had another wonderful performance with 27 points, which led the team. She also had six rebounds.

Warnock has significant scoring impact

The sophomore forward had a total of nine points through the first two games of the tournament, but she finished Friday’s game with 17 points and 11 rebounds, giving her a double-double.

Eight Hawkeyes score 

After Thursday’s performance of only four players scoring, the Hawkeyes found a way to have more players score. Every starter scored plus three bench players. Goodman led the bench players in points with six, while Megan Meyer and Tomi Taiwo combined for five points.