By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Playing in front of a sellout crowd at home, and against an opponent that isn’t undefeated and ranked first nationally, apparently is just what the Iowa women’s basketball team needed to get back on track following its lopsided loss to Connecticut eight days ago.

The Hawkeyes built a double-digit lead in the first quarter against Penn State, thanks to a 16-0 scoring run, and would go on protect that double-digit lead the rest of way while cruising to a 99-76 victory on Sunday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Iowa was playing for the first time since it fell to No. 1-ranked Connecticut 90-64 on Dec. 20 in Brooklyn, New York.

Sophomore center Ava Heiden led six Iowa players in double figures with 27 points in Sunday’s win. The Oregon native also grabbed nine rebounds.

Iowa’s other double-digit scorers were sophomore point guard Chit-Chat Wright with 16 points; sophomore guard Taylor Stremlow and senior forward Hannah Stuelke with 14 points apiece, and freshman guard Addie Deal and freshman forward Journey Houston with 13 and 11 points, respectively, off the bench.

Houston also led Iowa with 11 rebounds while playing 19 minutes.

Penn State threatened a couple times in the second and third quarters to cut the deficit to single digits.

But each time, Iowa had an answer, which often came in transition as Iowa made nine layups in the third quarter alone, including three by the 6-foot-4 Heiden, whose ability to run the floor caused fits for the Nittany Lions.

Heiden praised her teammates for getting her the ball in scoring situations.

Iowa assisted on 24 of its 36 baskets.

“All of them will pass it up to me on the floor, so they’re really looking for me,” said Heiden, who made 13-of-19 shots from the field. “So I know I can just kind of expend that energy and I get a reward from that.”

Heiden has struggled in some games this season with foul trouble, including in Iowa’s two losses to Connecticut and Iowa State. But she only had two fouls in Sunday’s win while being matched against Penn State’s 6-6 center Gracie Merkle.

“They’re hard to defend, Iowa head coach Jan Jensen said of Penn State. “And that’s why I was so happy Ava wasn’t in foul trouble today. When Ava doesn’t get in foul trouble, and she’s able to counter a big with what she can do, then there’s at least the equalizer.

“And we weren’t able to do that in the games we haven’t won.”

Iowa improved 11-2 overall and 2-0 in Big Ten play and has now won 12 straight games against Penn State, including 11 straight by double figures.

Penn State fell to 7-6 and 0-2.

Iowa was trailing 8-7 when Heiden made a basket with 7 minutes, 34 seconds left in the first quarter. That would be the start of a 16-0 scoring run that Wright capped by making a 3-point basket that gave Iowa  23-8 lead with 3:26 left in the quarter.

Wright scored 12 points in the first quarter and also had two assists.

Iowa led 29-14 after the first quarter, and then expanded the lead to 21 points (35-14) in the second quarter.

But then Penn State chipped away at the deficit in the second quarter, first with an 8-0 scoring run early in the quarter and then by closing the second quarter on a 10-2 scoring run that cut Iowa’s lead to 49-37 at halftime.

Wright only scored two points in the second quarter.

Graduate guard Kylie Feuerbach, who rolled her ankle in the loss to Connecticut, was in uniform but didn’t play in Sunday’s game.

Jensen said afterwards that Feuerbach’s status is day-to-day.

Iowa had time off over the Christmas holiday and that seems to have reenergized the players.

“We got about a four-day break and then came back and we weren’t sluggish at all,” said Houston, who is from Davenport. “We were positive and we just worked hard in practice and we showed up today.”

Sophomore forward Emely Rodriguez missed her seventh straight game, but she was seated on the Iowa bench throughout Sunday’s game.

There were reports that Rodriguez had been suspended for violating teams rules, though Iowa never confirmed it.

“She’s back and we never announced it ourselves,” Jensen said. “We handled that internally. She’s back and she’s battling a back (injury). That’s been chronic and that’s been a day-to-day situation.”

Iowa will face Nebraska in its next game on Wednesday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.