This is the easiest stretch of games for Iowa for the rest of the season. Northwestern and Penn State won’t make the NCAA Tournament unless they win the Big Ten Tournament. Michigan State—Iowa’s next opponent—is a fringe NCAA Tournament bubble team that needs to add significantly to its resume.

After this stretch, Iowa plays three straight tournament teams, including two conference favorites in Ohio State and Maryland. Iowa won’t play more than two non-tournament teams in a row the rest of the season.

On the one hand, having a stretch like this against weaker teams is good. It should allow Iowa to add some easy conference victories, work on trouble areas, and get bench players more involved. On the other hand, easy games on paper can make players complacent. With so many tough games remaining Iowa can’t afford to lose games in this stretch.

Iowa’s offense came out firing in the first quarter. The Hawks started the game 6/7 from the floor, including a couple threes and three easy baskets from Monika Czinano. Defensively, Penn State spaced Iowa’s player defense out, but the Lady Lions weren’t hitting their shots. Iowa had a 14-4 lead less than four minutes into the game and Penn State called for timeout.

The timeout didn’t work. Iowa pushed its lead to 19-4, then kept on pushing. Iowa led by as many as 24 in the first quarter and led 34-15 heading to the second quarter. Iowa shot 75% (15/20) in the quarter, and was 15/17 at one point before a few missed shots to end it.

The second quarter was nearly as good for Iowa. The Hawks didn’t shoot quite as well, but still scored at a prolific rate and played adequate defense. Iowa led by as many as 30 in the quarter, and took a 57-29 lead into halftime. Caitlin Clark had 21 points, 6 assists, and 3 rebounds at halftime.

Iowa didn’t let up after halftime and immediately went on an 8-0 run to begin the third quarter. Penn State called another timeout, but again it didn’t do anything to stop the Iowa surge, and Iowa led by 40 before the under-5 timeout. Iowa got more bench players involved to end the quarter, and led 83-45 heading to the fourth quarter. Iowa ultimately won 108-67.

Clark led Iowa with 27 points, 10 assists, and 7 rebounds. She was 9/15 from the floor. McKenna Warnock also had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Czinano had 20 points and 5 rebounds. Sydney Affolter had perhaps the best game of her young career with 12 points. Hannah Stuelke was the last Hawkeye in double-figures with 11 points in 7 minutes. A box score for the game is here.

Iowa has a very good half-court offense. Clark can score at every level. Czinano is one of the best low-post scorers in college basketball. Iowa is great at spacing the floor and finding open shooters.

But as today’s first quarter shows, Iowa’s offense is at its best in transition. When the game gets fast and the floor opens up, Clark is like a Renaissance painter with the perfect subject. She might throw a perfect pass from three-quarters court to set her teammate up with an easy layup. She might push the space then dump it off last minute once the defender commits to her. Or maybe she’ll just get a layup herself or pull up from the logo. It seems counterintuitive to think that a player gets better with less time to think, but more often than not Clark does.

Iowa’s transition offense shows just how important it is for Iowa to get stops and quick rebounds. Iowa’s first quarter today was like a flood. Penn State kept missing shots, but by the time it had a chance to react, Iowa already had another basket and was setting up its defense again. In just a few minutes, Iowa had built the lead to double-digits and a few minutes later, it was over 20 points. By then, the game was over and the teams still had more than 30 minutes to play.

When Iowa gets in shootouts, it doesn’t get as many opportunities to utilize its transition offense because the other team is scoring so much. The flood runs never come because Iowa can’t put together multiple stops to get them started.

This game also shows what a delicate balance it is to press against Iowa. On the one hand, there are obvious benefits. Iowa is prone to turning the ball over in bunches. Slowing its offense down is the best way to get stops against it.

But implementing a full court press also gives Iowa opportunities to push in transition if it breaks the press quickly. Today, that’s what happened. Penn State tried to press after its made baskets, but the press was a net negative, as it led to more quick Iowa baskets than turnovers.

Iowa returns to action on Wednesday, January 18th at 6:01 PM CT on the road at Michigan State. The Spartans are 10-7 overall and 2-4 in Big Ten play. The game will be streamed on BTN Plus ($).