Junior Kaylene Smikle received a hand-off pass near the top of the Hawkeye logo. She sized left, firing a perfectly timed assist to a waiting Bri McDaniel in the left corner.

McDaniel netted a contested 3-pointer over the rising hands of an Iowa defender, extending a comfortable double-digit first-half lead. The bucket marked one of Maryland women’s basketball’s 12 eventual triples, converted on at an efficient 48 percent clip.

The junior guard contributed 13 of the Terps’ 18 bench points on Sunday, a key spark throughout a trigger-happy offensive display. Early shooting success powered the No. 8 Terps to a convincing 74-66 road victory over the No. 23 Hawkeyes, handing Iowa (12-3, 2-2 B1G) its first home loss at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in more than a year.

Senior guard Lucy Olsen has paced the Hawkeyes’ offense this season, leading Iowa in points per game to help fill the scoring void in the wake of Caitlin Clark’s departure.

An early jumper courtesy of the Villanova transfer provided the game’s first points just 18 seconds in on Sunday. It served as Iowa’s sole lead of the game, with the Maryland (14-0, 4-0 B1G) defense holding Olsen without another made field goal for nearly 18 straight minutes.

“We were able, with our depth, to give Lucy a lot of different looks defensively,” coach Brenda Frese said.

[No. 8 Maryland women’s basketball stays unbeaten with 78-61 win over Rutgers]

The Terps jetted out an 13-0 run after Olsen’s score, controlling pace and finding success beyond the arc with a barrage of 3-pointers.

Triples from guards Shyanne Sellers, Saylor Poffenbarger and Kaylene Smikle blitzed the Hawkeyes’ perimeter defense, extending the lead to double-digits midway through the period. The trio combined for 17 of Maryland’s first 22 points en route to its highest-scoring first quarter against a Big Ten opponent this season.

Senior forward Christina Dalce logged six rebounds in the 10-minute period alone — five of which came on the offensive end, more than doubling Iowa’s offensive board team total through the same span.

A 7-0 Iowa run to close the opening frame cut its deficit back to within single digits. But Maryland’s pressure defense held stout throughout the second quarter, limiting Iowa to just a single made field goal in the frame’s first eight minutes.

“It says a lot about this team, because your offense isn’t going to fall all the time,” Frese said. “Being on the road, you’ve got to be able to have that defensive intensity … that was huge for us.”

The Hawkeye dry spell coincided with more Terp triples.

Sellers became the first player to log 10-plus points midway through the myriad, courtesy of her third 3-pointer. The outing marked the senior guard’s tenth straight game in double figures.

[Maryland women’s basketball tops Michigan State, 72-66, for best start in 6 seasons]

A pair of late free throws in the first half’s final minute gave Sellers 14 of her eventual 17 points to extend Maryland’s advantage to a game-high 25. Maryland outscored Iowa by 14 in the second quarter, led by seven points in the frame from both Sellers and Smikle.

The Terps forced 13 Hawkeye turnovers in the first half, resulting in 18 timely points off takeaways. But Iowa’s attack methodically climbed back to start the second half, as scores from Olsen and senior guard Sydney Affolter highlighted 12 unanswered points.

The Hawkeyes added to their spurt in the fourth quarter’s opening minutes with a dominant 15-4 scoring run, featuring six points all from the free throw line. A key Hannah Stuelke free throw midway through the period trimmed the deficit to five.

“We’re not going to crumble from teams going on runs because that’s just how basketball is,” Smikle said. “We stayed composed.”

Smikle responded with back-to-back 3-pointers — her third and fourth respective triples of the day — that snapped a near-four minute Terp scoring drought. Late free throws by Sellers and Smikle down the stretch, a result of desperate intentional Hawkeye fouls, ballooned the road lead to eight before the final buzzer.

Maryland remained undefeated atop the Big Ten standings, squeaking out its third ranked win of the season. The Terps have another opportunity to buff their resume in a top-10 clash against No. 4 USC on Wednesday.