Penn State pushes Iowa out of Big Ten race

IOWA CITY -- They were out of it. Then they weren't.

Then they were. Then they weren't.

Finally, Penn State made sure they were.

The Lady Lions put the final dagger into Iowa's Big Ten women's basketball championship hopes, dropping the 20th-ranked Hawkeyes, 82-75, in front of 5,830 Sunday afternoon at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Penn State (20-5 overall, 9-2 Big Ten) built a 12-point halftime lead, then the Hawkeyes (17-7, 5-6) surged within three. The Lady Lions pushed it 13, then Iowa battled back with four on three occasions.

Each time Iowa made a run, Penn State had an answer.

"It's tough when you hit big shots, then the next two seconds, they're coming right back at you," said Iowa's Jaime Printy, who had a crucial basket waved off due to a charging call with the Hawkeyes trailing 66-62 with about 4 minutes left.

Penn State completed a season sweep of the Hawkeyes and maintained a half-game lead over Michigan State in the Big Ten race.

"I'm happy to see us continue to get better," said PSU Coach Coquese Washington. "This was a win ... I don't think in November or December, we could have won this game."

Alex Bentley scored 25 points and Maggie Lucas came off the bench to add 18 as Penn State won its fifth straight game.

"Penn State's a good team," said Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder. "They can score at will. They're very, very hard to defend."

Especially in transition.

"That's just the way we play," Washington said. "We want to play fast, get up and down the floor. Sometimes I bite my lip, but for the most part, we make good decisions."

As for the Hawkeyes, the focus changes.

The Big Ten title isn't going to happen. With four of their final five games against bottom-half opponents, the primary aim is a top-five finish -- and a first-round bye in the Big Ten tournament.

Kamille Wahlin scored 24 points -- her six 3-pointers tied a Carver women's record -- and became the 28th player in school history to reach 1,000 points for a career. Kachine Alexander became the first Hawkeye (and the fifth Big Ten player) to register 1,000 points, 800 rebounds and 300 assists in a career.

Wonderful accomplishments, both. But on this day, a bit hollow.

Printy tallied 20 points Sunday, Alexander posted 12 points and 17 boards.

Penn State parlayed an 11-0 spree into a 19-12 lead midway through the first half and took a 44-32 advantage into intermission.

Iowa surged to start the second half, and when Krei took a feed from Printy in the open floor and converted, Iowa was within 54-51.

The Hawkeyes had the ball with a chance to draw closer, but Bentley stole the ball at midcourt and turned it into a layup to trigger a 10-0 Penn State run that gave the Lady Lions their largest advantage at 64-51.

"Basketball is a game of runs, and you just hope you have the final one," Washington said.

Iowa rallied one more time, then Penn State answered one final time.

The Hawkeyes host Minnesota at 8 p.m. Thursday.