Freshman Warnock sparks No. 19 Iowa women to victory

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Freshman McKenna Warnock scored 15 of her career-high 22 points in the fourth quarter when No. 19 Iowa broke open a close game and beat Michigan State 74-57 on Sunday for the Hawkeyes’ eighth straight victory.

Warnock came off the bench to shoot 8 of 11 to better her previous high of 14 points and also matched her personal best of 10 rebounds. Kathleen Doyle made seven steals and added 20 points. Makenzie Meyer had 13 points. Monika Czinano, the Hawkeyes’ second-leading scorer at 15.7 per game, finished with four after leaving with an apparent ankle injury with just under seven minutes left in the third quarter.

The Hawkeyes (16-3, 7-1 Big Ten) extended their home winning streak to 32 games, the second-longest active streak behind Baylor’s 49 straight.

Taryn McCutcheon scored 12 points and Nia Clouden scored 10 to lead the Spartans but combined for only three points in the second half.

The Spartans went into the final quarter with a 48-46 lead before being outscored 28-9. In one stretch, Warnock scored 13 points in a 15-5 run for a 10-point lead that grew from there.

Following the game, a season-best crowd of 13,420 watched as Iowa retired the No. 10 jersey of Megan Gustafson, just the second Hawkeye to receive such an honor following Michelle Edwards in 1990. Gustafson won AP Player of the Year and the Naismith Trophy among several awards as the national player of the year last season after leading the country in scoring and topping several national and conference statistical categories. She is the all-time scoring leader in school history, women or men, with 2,804 points. She is currently playing in Hungary.