PHOTO BY STEPHEN MALLY/HAWKEYESPORTS.COM - Iowa Hawkeyes guard Caitlin Clark (22) makes a basket while being fouled by Minnesota’s Alexia Smith (1) during the first quarter of Wednesday’s Big Ten Conference game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.

IOWA CITY — The road to 42-straight wins in Carver-Hawkeye Arena was rough and winding in the early going of Wednesday’s game for the University of Iowa women’s basketball team.

It turned into swift sailing down a black and gold superhighway, with the crew captained by a true freshman.

Freshman Caitlin Clark, in her ninth game as a collegian, scored 37 points with 11 rebounds and a team-high five assists as the Hawkeyes rallied past Minnesota for a 92-79 victory.

On this January night, it took 26 minutes, 26 seconds for the Hawkeyes to forge ahead in a game they won. Trailing 48-38 at halftime, Iowa opened the second half by converting four of its first six field goals from distance. The go-ahead bucket was a fast break of beauty as Alexis Sevillian launched a half-court pass that Kate Martin caught in stride on left side and coasted in for an uncontested layup and a 59-58 lead.

Sophomore McKenna Warnock made a 3-point field goal 30 seconds later and Iowa began to stretch its lead that reached 16 midway through the final quarter.

“We were moving up and down in transition and I think we wore them out a little bit,” Iowa head coach Bluder said.

In their two most recent Big Ten games, the Hawkeyes raced to first quarter leads of 16 and 25 points. They kept the scoring onslaught packed away until closing the second quarter on a 7-1 run and opening the third with a 17-7 streak to tie the score at 55.

“I thought that (third quarter) was a thing of beauty,” Bluder said. “The second half was amazing, the third quarter was amazing. The way we came out in the second half … we have 15 assists in the second half alone, we out-rebounded them by 12 in the second half (25-13), we get to the free throw line nine times and they get to the free throw line two times.”

Clark made five 3-point field goals and 8 of 9 free throws. If you think that stat line sounds like a broken record, get used to it.

“I think in her four-year career I’m going to run out of adjectives to describe her,” Bluder said. “That was pretty spectacular. When she feels it, those deep 3s are no problem … when you have someone like Caitlin Clark on the floor, you’re never out of a game.”

In the “thing of beauty” third, Clark scored 12 points on 4 of 5 shooting (4 of 4 from distance), with five rebounds and four assists.

Iowa (8-1, 4-1) hits the road Saturday at Northwestern. The game begins at 6 p.m. and will be televised by the Big Ten Network.

Iowa 92, Minnesota 79

MINNESOTA (2-5) — Sissoko 7-17 4-6 20, Sconiers 2-2 0-2 4, Hubbard 1-7 0-0 2, Powell 6-10 3-4 18, Smith 2-2 0-0 4, Bagwell-Katalinich 2-6 0-0 4, Mershon 3-6 1-1 9, Scalia 6-16 2-2 18. TOTALS 29-66 10-15 79

IOWA (8-1) — Warnock 3-6 2-2 9, Czinano 8-15 3-5 19, Clark 12-19 8-9 37, Marshall 3-11 0-0 7, Martin 3-5 0-0 7, Cook 0-0 0-0 0, Meyer 3-5 0-0 8, Sevillian 0-1 0-0 0, Goodman 1-1 0-0 2, Jensen 1-1 0-0 3. TOTALS 34-64 13-16 92

Minnesota 27 21 13 18 — 79

Iowa 19 19 30 24 — 92

3-Point Goals–Minnesota 11-30 (Sissoko 2-3, Hubbard 0-4, Powell 3-7, Mershon 2-4, Scalia 4-12), Iowa 11-24 (Warnock 1-3, Clark 5-9, Marshall 1-5, Martin 1-2, Meyer 2-3, Sevillian 0-1, Jensen 1-1). Assists–Minnesota 11 (Powell 6), Iowa 23 (Clark 5). Fouled Out–None. Rebounds–Minnesota 32 (Sissoko 10), Iowa 39 (Clark 11). Total Fouls–Minnesota 15, Iowa 12. A–296.