No. 23 Iowa women use big 4th quarter to get past Gabby Elliott and Penn State

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (AP) — Taylor McCabe scored 17 points and made five 3-pointers, Hannah Stuelke had 13 points, 10 rebounds and four assists, and No. 23 Iowa beat Penn State 80-68 on Wednesday despite Gabby Elliott ‘s 32-point performance.

Iowa (12-2, 2-1 Big Ten) hast won 11 straight against Penn State (9-5, 0-3).

Iowa led 38-36 at halftime and it was tied at 55-all after three quarters before the Hawkeyes pulled away in the fourth by making six straight shots — and nine of their last 12. The Hawkeyes shot 65% from the field in the fourth quarter, making 11 of 17 shots.

Elliott scored 11 of Penn State’s 13 fourth-quarter points and finished 12 of 22 from the floor, including 7 of 11 from 3-point range. Her teammates went 1 of 6 from the field in the fourth with six turnovers.

Addison O’Grady added 16 points and Lucy Olsen had 11 points and five assists for Iowa.

Gracie Merkle had 13 points and 12 rebounds and Jayla Oden scored 10 for Penn State, which has lost five of its last six. The Nittany Lions twice led by 10 points in the first quarter as Iowa shot just 37%.

Penn State was entering after a 90-54 loss to Minnesota — the program’s largest margin of defeat since losing to Iowa by 33 in the 2024 Big Ten Tournament.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball

Copyright © 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

Federal News Network Logo
Log in to your WTOP account for notifications and alerts customized for you.

Sign up