Iowa women's basketball picks up Big Ten road win at Northwestern

EVANSTON, Ill. — The Hawkeyes made themselves right at home in Welsh-Ryan Arena, beating Northwestern, 77-51, on Sunday.

The win was the seventh straight for Iowa at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

'Road wins are special,' Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder said. 'Road wins are really hard to come by in the Big Ten.'

Four Hawkeye players scored in double figures, led by Monika Czinano with 21 points. Kathleen Doyle had 15 points and seven assists despite battling foul trouble, and freshman McKenna Warnock had 12 points off the bench.

Iowa (11-3, 2-1 Big Ten) hit its first four 3-point tries on the way to a 24-13 lead after one quarter. The Hawkeyes shot 64.3 percent from the arc (9 of 14) for the game, with six different players contributing. Iowa had 24 assists on 29 field goals.

'I feel like our team understands so well how to pass the ball,' Bluder said.

Northwestern (12-2, 2-1) never got closer than eight points the final three quarters. The Wildcats were held to a season low in points (51) and shot just 35.7 percent (20 of 56).

'This is a good Northwestern team,' Bluder said. 'Maybe we caught them on a bad night shooting, but I hope it had something to do with our defense, as well.'

Iowa won the rebounding battle 38 to 25. Amanda Ollinger led Iowa with 12 rebounds to go with 11 points for her second career double-double.

'Amanda is doing such a great job for us on the glass,' Bluder said. 'But also just taking really smart shots.'

Next up for Iowa is a visit from No. 11 Maryland (10-3, 1-1) on Thursday. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Terrapins play Ohio State on Monday.