Monika Czinano

EVANSTON, Ill. — The Iowa women’s basketball team held Northwestern to a season-low scoring output and the Hawkeyes handed the Wildcats their first Big Ten Conference loss, 77-51, on Sunday at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Northwestern (12-2, 2-1) shot 35.7 percent (20-for-56) from the field for the game, going just 4-for-21 from 3-point range, against Iowa’s zone defense. The Hawkeyes (11-3, 2-1) held their hosts to only 21 points in the first half and held a 12-point lead at the intermission.

Iowa withstood Northwestern’s charge during the third quarter and ended the Wildcats’ seven-game win streak.

“Road wins are special and hard to come by in the Big Ten,” said Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder. “We did a good job of moving hard in our zone. We arrived to the ball with hands up, so we contested every shot. We were aware where shooters were all the time and moved hard on the pass.”

The Hawkeyes also thwarted Northwestern’s transition offense by scoring with great efficiency, shooting 53.7 percent (29-for-54) from the field, while also outrebounding the Wildcats 38-25.

“We laid an egg today,” said Northwestern head coach Joe McKeown. “Defensively we broke down in the wrong places, especially in the first quarter. We gave up shots that we’ve been taking away from everybody.

“In the second quarter we held them to nine points, defensively we did a great job of adjusting, but we just couldn’t get going offensively today.”

Lindsey Pulliam scored a game-high 25 points to lead the Wildcats, but she was the only Northwestern player with more than 10 points. Pulliam shot 10-of-23 from the field in eclipsing 20 points for the fourth game in a row.

“We shot the ball well, which always helps,” Bluder said, “and I think we caught [Northwestern] on a bad shooting night, too. Northwestern is a better shooting team than what they showed tonight.”

Monika Czinano led the Hawkeyes with 21 points, and Amanda Ollinger added a double-double of 11 points and 12 rebounds. Kathleen Doyle tacked on 17 points and seven assists, putting her at 602 assists for her career to rank second all-time in school history.

McKenna Warnock chipped in 12 points off the bench for Iowa, which is one of six teams in the Big Ten with a 2-1 record. Only Indiana (2-0) is unblemished conference play.

The Hawkeyes put their 28-game home win streak on the line Thursday when they entertain No. 11 Maryland in a 7 p.m. game that will be televised by the Big Ten Network.

IOWA 77, NORTHWESTERN 51

At Evanston, Ill.

IOWA (11-3) — Czinano 9-14 3-4 21, Ollinger 4-6 3-4 11, Doyle 6-10 2-3 15, Mak. Meyer 3-5 0-0 9, Sevillian 1-3 0-0 3, Cook 0-0 0-0 0, Valino Ramos 0-0 0-0 0, Marshall 1-6 0-0 3, Martin 0-1 0-0 0, Meg. Meyer 1-1 0-0 3, Sanders 0-0 0-0 0, Taiwo 0-2 0-0 0, Warnock 4-6 2-2 12. TOTALS 29-54 10-13 77.

NORTHWESTERN (12-2) — Scheid 3-8 0-0 7, Wolf 1-2 0-0 2, Burton 3-8 2-4 10, Pulliam 10-23 4-7 25, Wood 1-4 1-2 3, Shaw 1-1 0-0 2, Galernik 0-3 0-0 0, Hamilton 1-5 0-0 2, Hartman 0-0 0-0 0, Sancataldo 0-1 0-0 0, Satterwhite 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS 20-56 7-13 51.

Iowa 24 9 19 25 — 77

N’western 13 8 18 12 — 51

3-Point Goals–Iowa 9-14 (Doyle 1-1, Mak. Meyer 3-4, Sevillian 1-2, Marshall 1-2, Meg. Meyer 1-1, Taiwo 0-1, Warnock 2-3), Northwestern 4-21 (Scheid 1-6, Burton 2-5, Pulliam 1-5, Galernik 0-1, Hamilton 0-3, Sancataldo 0-1). Assists–Iowa 24 (Doyle 7), Northwestern 15 (Burton 5). Fouled Out–Northwestern Burton. Rebounds–Iowa 38 (Ollinger 12), Northwestern 25 (Scheid 5). Total Fouls–Iowa 13, Northwestern 14. A–1,843.