No. 3 Iowa earns its largest women’s basketball win ever at Purdue, 96-71

Note: This story was written in Cedar Rapids.

Set the countdown clock:

Hawkeyes. Hoosiers. Saturday night.

Third-ranked Iowa notched its largest women’s basketball victory in 39 visits to Mackey Arena on Wednesday, steaming past the Boilermakers, 96-71, in front of a sellout crowd of 14,876.

Caitlin Clark notched her 15th career triple-double — and her second consecutive — with 26 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, and the Hawkeyes (16-1 overall, 5-0 Big Ten) won their 13th consecutive game, which matches the longest streak of the Lisa Bluder era (equaling the start of the 2004-05 season).

Up next for the Hawkeyes is their biggest test to date. They’ll host No. 14 Indiana in a battle of Big Ten unbeatens at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Indiana (14-1, 5-0) topped Penn State, 75-67, Wednesday.

The Hawkeyes beat Purdue (9-6, 2-2) for the eighth straight time.

Clark was one of five Iowa players to reach double figures. The Hawkeyes hit 15 of 33 3-pointers.

Kate Martin added 15 points, moving within four of the 1,000-point mark for her career.

Sydney Affolter came off the bench to score 14 points. Gabbie Marshall nailed four 3-pointers for the second straight game and scored 12. Hannah Stuelke tallied 10.

Led by Clark’s 10 rebounds and eight from Martin, Iowa enjoyed a 40-23 rebounding advantage.

The Hawkeyes hit 11 of 16 shots in the first quarter, including a sizzling 7 of 11 from long range, and ended the period with a 29-18 advantage.

Down 15-14, Iowa concluded the quarter with a 15-3 push in a 4:25 span.

It was 51-37 at halftime.

Clark’s 10th assist, leading to Marshall’s final 3-pointer, punctuated a 9-0 run for an 89-65 advantage with 3:13 to go.

Abbey Ellis led Purdue with 15 points.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com