Alex Bentley scored 25 points to lead the Penn State women’s basketball team to an 82-75 win over 20th-ranked Iowa on Sunday. This win was the fifth straight for the Lady Lions and their third straight on the road.

Iowa jumped out to a 10-6 lead, but five points each from Bentley and Maggie Lucas spurred the Lady Lions on a 15-3 run. Penn State closed out the first half in strong fashion, going on a 9-1 run that gave them a 44-32 lead heading into the break. Bentley had 15 points in the first half on 70 percent shooting. Mia Nickson grabbed 11 rebounds in the half to pace the Lady Lions to a 25-18 advantage on the boards.

Iowa came out strong in the second half and quickly closed the gap to seven points. Another surge with 13:30 remaining brought the Hawkeyes within three at 54-51. Penn State followed with a 10-0 run, but Iowa managed to close the gap to four points with 4:30 left in the game. The Lady Lions never let Iowa get any closer, and Penn State closed out the game by going 10-10 from the line in the final minute of play.

Bentley led the way for the Lady Lions with 25 points and five assists. Lucas had 18 points and Nickson had 13 to go along with her 15 rebounds. Julia Trogele also performed well, scoring seven points and grabbing nine rebounds.

Penn State improves to 20-5 overall and 9-2 in the Big Ten with the victory. The last time the Lady Lions won 20 games was in the 2003-2004 season. Penn State leads the Big Ten by half a game over eleventh-ranked Michigan State, which is Penn State’s next opponent. The teams will square off in the Bryce Jordan Center on Thursday at 7 p.m. The winner of this game will be in a strong position to win the Big Ten regular season title.