IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Caitlin Clark scored 21 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and passed off six assists at No. 14 Iowa remained unbeaten at home, turning away late rally by Central Florida to post a 69-61 win Saturday.
Clark hit three first-half 3s and her jumper with a second left sent the teams into intermission tied at 31-31. She missed all five 3-point attempts in the second half as the Hawkeyes rebounded from a 77-70 loss to No. 12 Iowa State in their last game.
Monica Czinano got to the basket for four third-quarter layups as the Hawkeyes (6-2) outscored UCF 25-12 in the third quarter and took a 56-43 advantage into the fourth.
Tay Sanders got a layup and Diamond Battles hit a 3 to get the Knights back within single digits, 56-48, and Sanders’ jumper with 7:01 left made it 58-53. McKenna Warnock answered with a 3 and a layup and Czinano added a layup to push the Hawkeyes’ lead back to 13, 66-53 with under four minutes to play.
Czinano finished with 19 points Warniock added 13 points, seven boards and seven assists for Iowa.
Sanders scored 20 points to lead UCF (8-2), which took its first road loss. Diamond Battles scored 12 points and collected four steals and Alisha Lewis hit two 3s in the final 1:45 to finish with 10 points and four steals.
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