Michigan State women's basketball routed by No. 9 Iowa in Big Ten opener
Nia Clouden and the Michigan State women’s basketball team recovered from an early 10-point deficit to put themselves within a basket of No. 9-ranked Iowa at the break.
The Spartans couldn’t respond to the second push made by the Hawkeyes.
Things got away from MSU during the third quarter as it suffered an 88-61 loss to Iowa in its Big Ten opener on Sunday afternoon.
Iowa went on an 18-3 run in the third quarter to turn a one-point lead into a double-digit advantage while pulling away to beat the Spartans and givving eteran coach Lisa Bluder her 800th career coaching win.
MSU, which dropped its second straight, shot just 25% percent in a third quarter when it was outscored by Iowa, 33-11. The Hawkeyes made 11 of 16 shots from the field during the dominant quarter.
Clouden had her streak of 20-point games end at six and finished with a team-high 18 points for MSU (6-4, 0-1). Freshman DeeDee Hagemann added 12 points, six rebounds and six assists and Tamara Farquhar added 10 points off the bench for the Spartans.
Caitlin Clark recorded her second triple-double of the season to lead Iowa, finishing with 24 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds. McKenna Warnock added 21 points and Monika Czinano added 19 points and seven rebounds for the Hawkeyes (5-1). Warnock and Czinano were a combined 16 of 22 from the field.
MSU opens the home portion of its Big Ten schedule Thursday against Illinois.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Michigan State women's basketball drops Big Ten opener to Iowa
