Ava Heiden scores career-high 27 to propel No. 14 Iowa women to 99-76 romp over Penn State

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IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Ava Heiden scored a career-high 27 points to lead six Hawkeyes in double figures and No. 14 Iowa cruised to a 99-76 victory over Penn State on Sunday in Big Ten Conference play.

The 6-foot-4 sophomore made 13 of 19 shots and her only free throw for the Hawkeyes (11-2, 2-0), who bounced back from a 90-64 loss to No. 1 Connecticut. Heiden also grabbed nine rebounds, playing 27 minutes.

Chazadi Wright had 16 points and six assists for Iowa. Taylor Stremlow and Hannah Stuelke both scored 14 with Stuelke adding eight rebounds. Reserve Addison Deal had 13 points and freshman Journey Houston pitched in with 11 points and 11 rebounds off the bench for her first double-double.

Freshman Tea Cleante had 21 points and sophomore Kiyomi McMiller scored 20 to pace the Nittany Lions (7-6, 0-2), who have lost two in a row and five of their last six. Gracie Merkle totaled 18 points, 11 rebounds and six of her team's 20 turnovers.

Wright sank two 3-pointers and scored 12 in the first quarter to power Iowa to a 29-14 lead.

Cleante had nine points in the second quarter, Merkle added seven and Penn State outscored Iowa by three to trail 49-37 at intermission.

Penn State shot 50% (6 for 12) in the third quarter to Iowa's 45.8% but fell further behind after eight offensive rebounds helped the Hawkeyes get off twice as many shots in taking a 73-52 lead to the fourth.

Iowa took its largest lead at 81-56 on Heiden's layup with 7:40 remaining.

Penn State: Hosts No. 4 UCLA on Wednesday.

Iowa: Hosts No. 20 Nebraska on Thursday.

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