In program history the No. 8 Lady Lions have had trouble defeating Iowa on the road, as they are just 7-11with games played in Iowa City.
But last night Penn State (21-3, 11-1 Big Ten) proved why they are the top ranked team in the Big Ten, defeating the Hawkeyes (16-10, 5-7 Big Ten), 81-69. With that victory, the squad improved its winning streak to four games and extended their conference lead to three games.
The game remained scoreless two minutes into the first half with Iowa being the first to break the tie off a layup, but that lead quickly evaporated with a three from Maggie Lucas.
There were nine lead changes in the game with Penn State leading by as many as 21 with just over five minutes to play.
Veteran leadership has carried the Lions all season with Lucas dropping 21 points last night, senior Alex Bentley putting up 14 with four assists and four steals.
Junior Ariel Edwards had an impressive night off the bench, scoring 15 points in just 18 minutes, but accumulated four fouls in the time. The bench accounted for 20 points on the night, 15 of them coming from Edwards.
Penn State trailed for nearly half of the first half until Dara Taylor nailed a three pointer with 11:50 left in the first half en route to scoring nine points on the night.
The Lions would go on a 5-0 run until the Hawkeyes came back and to take the lead 24-22 with just under seven minutes to play in the half, but Penn State would fight back to take the halftime lead of 37-34.
Iowa would again start the second half strong taking a 38-37 lead, but the Hawkeyes would never again top their largest lead of the night, five points, that came early in the first.
