No. 10 Indiana overcomes Iowa to stay in Big Ten title hunt

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Grace Berger, Mackenzie Holmes, and Ali Patberg each scored 22 points as 10th-ranked Indiana rallied from a seven-point deficit in the third quarter for an 89-80 Big Ten home victory over Iowa on Wednesday.

The Hoosiers (17-4, 15-2 Big Ten) pulled to within a half-game of No. 8 Maryland (19-2, 15-1) for the regular-season conference crown. Indiana has one game remaining while the Terrapins have two.

Iowa freshman guard Caitlin Clark, the nation's second-leading scorer at 26.9 points per game, led all scorers with 32 points before fouling out late in the fourth quarter. Manika Czinano added 20 points for the Hawkeyes (14-8, 10-8).

Berger scored eight of her points in the pivotal third quarter, when Indiana outscored Iowa 27-16. That's when Indiana clamped down defensively on Iowa's one-two punch as Clark had just four shots and Czinano missed five-of-seven shots.

Nicole Cardano-Hillary added seven of her 13 points in the third as the Hoosiers took a 65-59 edge into the final 10 minutes.

Holmes made 11-of-13 shots and had a game-high 11 rebounds for a double-double. Indiana outrebounded Iowa 38-21 and had a 56-38 advantage in points in the paint.

The Hoosiers swept the Hawkeyes for the first time since 1994.

TIP-INS

Iowa: Clark leads the Big Ten in 10 statistical categories, and has received the Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor 12 times, and been named conference Player of the Week a record five times. ... Junior F/C Manika Czinano leads the nation in field goal percentage at 69.2.

Indiana: Ranked in top 10 for the first time in program history after moving up one spot this week. ... The 15 conference wins are the most in the Teri Moren coaching era and tied for the most in school history with the 1983 team.

UP NEXT

Iowa: Host Nebraska Saturday.

Indiana: Host Purdue Saturday.