IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Ava Heiden scored a career-high 27 points to lead six Hawkeyes in double figures and No. 14 Iowa cruised to a 99-76 victory over Penn State on Sunday in Big Ten Conference play.

The 6-foot-4 sophomore made 13 of 19 shots and her only free throw for the Hawkeyes (11-2, 2-0), who bounced back from a 90-64 loss to No. 1 Connecticut. Heiden also grabbed nine rebounds, playing 27 minutes.

Chazadi Wright had 16 points and six assists for Iowa. Taylor Stremlow and Hannah Stuelke both scored 14 with Stuelke adding eight rebounds. Reserve Addison Deal had 13 points and freshman Journey Houston pitched in with 11 points and 11 rebounds off the bench for her first double-double.

Freshman Tea Cleante had 21 points and sophomore Kiyomi McMiller scored 20 to pace the Nittany Lions (7-6, 0-2), who have lost two in a row and five of their last six. Gracie Merkle totaled 18 points, 11 rebounds and six of her team’s 20 turnovers.

Wright sank two 3-pointers and scored 12 in the first quarter to power Iowa to a 29-14 lead.

Cleante had nine points in the second quarter, Merkle added seven and Penn State outscored Iowa by three to trail 49-37 at intermission.

Penn State shot 50% (6 for 12) in the third quarter to Iowa’s 45.8% but fell further behind after eight offensive rebounds helped the Hawkeyes get off twice as many shots in taking a 73-52 lead to the fourth.

Iowa took its largest lead at 81-56 on Heiden’s layup with 7:40 remaining.

HAWKEYES INDIVIDUAL NOTES
– Ava Heiden netted a career-high 27 points (13-19 FG) and nine rebounds.
– It was Heiden’s third career game with 20+ points and most against a Big Ten team.  
– Hannah Stuelke had 14 points and eight rebounds.
– Stuelke became the 14th Hawkeye in program history to record 1,300+ points and 700+ rebounds in her career.
– Stuelke has notched double figures in four straight games and in 10 contests overall.   
– Taylor Stremlow recorded a career-high 14 points (4-6 FG), four assists, three rebounds, and two steals.
– Stremlow has 10+ points in four games this season.
– Chit-Chat Wright registered 16 points, a team-high six assists, and three rebounds.
– It was Wright’s sixth game in double figures as a Hawkeye.
– Journey Houston added 11 points and a career-best 11 rebounds.
– It was Houston’s first career double-double.  
– Addie Deal notched her third career game in double figures. (13)
 
HAWKEYES TEAM NOTES
– Iowa has won 12 in a row against Penn State.
– The Hawkeyes have beaten the Nittany Lions by double digits in 11 straight games dating back to Feb. 3, 2019.
– Iowa extended its home winning streak to nine games.
– The Hawkeyes have won all seven home contests this season by 10+ points.
– Iowa has played in front of 43 consecutive home sellouts which is the longest streak nationally.
– Iowa is 133-20 in Iowa City since Nov. 11, 2016.
– The Hawkeyes are 95-30 against Big Ten foes since the 2019-20 season.
– The Hawkeyes are 18-1 when scoring 80+ points in the Jan Jensen era.
– Iowa improved to 87-7 when dishing out 20+ assists since the 2020-21 season.
– Since 2018-19, the Hawkeyes are 103-6 when registering 80+ points and 20+ assists in the same game.  

Up next

Penn State: Hosts No. 4 UCLA on Wednesday.

Iowa: Hosts No. 20 Nebraska on Thursday.