The Big Ten Conference women’s basketball standings became more muddled Wednesday after Penn State shocked the University of Iowa, 82-69, in front of 3,873 on Mediacom Court inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. According to Hawkeyesports.com., Penn State (7-11 overall, 2-5 Big Ten) ended a five-game losing skid by shooting 49 percent from the field and out-rebounding the Hawkeyes (13-6, 3-4) by 14.

UI sophomore Chase Coley made 7-of-10 field goals and shared game-high scoring honors with 16 points. Junior Ally Disterhoft had a tough night shooting (3-of-14 from the field), but still managed 13 points with seven rebounds, three assists, and two blocked shots. The Hawkeye point guard duo of sophomore Whitney Jennings and Tania Davis combined for 20 points, nine assists, six steals, and five rebounds.

Sunday can’t come soon enough for the Hawkeyes. That’s their next opportunity (at Purdue) to snap out of a funk of four losses in five games. Iowa returns to action — and the road — Jan. 24 at Purdue (14-4, 5-2). Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. (CT) and the game will be televised by BTN. The Boilermakers lost at home Wednesday to Nebraska, 62-61.

The 9th-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes are on the road tonight (Thursday) to face Big Ten basement dweller Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights are 0-6 in the conference after a 107-57 loss to Purdue on Monday. Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery says Rutgers is a much better team than they showed against the Boilermakers.

“Purdue, with their incredible size, was not a good matchup for Rutgers. You look at the Wake Forest game or the Indiana game, I mean, that’s more indicative of how Rutgers is and we have to understand that,” McCaffery said. Wake Forest beat Rutgers by just one point in November, while the Scarlet Knights lost to Big Ten leader Indiana by seven points three weeks ago.

Iowa is riding a seven-game winning streak and with a win tonight, would join Indiana at 6-0 atop the Big Ten. On Sunday, Iowa beat Michigan 82-71 with the Hawkeyes coming off the bench scoring 22 points. McCaffery says Dom Uhl, Nicholas Baer, and Ahmad Wagner are giving the Iowa starters a big boost.

“You’ve got to be able to go to your bench in this league. It’s too long of a season, the teams are too good, the games are too physical, the travel…you just can’t get by with five or six guys,” McCaffery said. Sophomore forward Dom Uhl is averaging just under 8 points and 4 rebounds per game off the bench.

“He’s playing relaxed,” McCaffery said of Uhl. “He knows he’s going to play a lot. He knows I’m going to go to him and he’s going to be allowed to play through his mistakes. You don’t always get that when you’re a freshman.” Iowa and Rutgers tipoff at 6 p.m. in New Jersey.

Pre-game coverage begins at 5-p.m. on KJAN. The game will also be televised by ESPN-U.

(Learfield Sports)