INDIANAPOLIS — As the top seed in the Big Ten Conference women's basketball tournament, fifth-ranked Maryland had the supposed luxury of playing the first game in Friday's quarterfinals, meaning more time for rest and preparation should the Terps advance.

The noon start against No. 9 seed Iowa turned out not to be exactly ideal, though, when travel complications delayed the team's arrival at the Circle City until late Thursday night, well after the scheduled time. Maryland also had not set foot on the court at Bankers Life Fieldhouse until pregame warmups or played at all in five days.

So it was that the Terps found themselves trailing by double figures early and in a bit of an offensive rut. But as Maryland eventually eased into a scoring rhythm, masterful defense during the second quarter — with just one field goal allowed — enabled the Terps to move in front for good on the way to a 75-55 victory.

“That was an awesome defensive effort,” Maryland senior point guard Chloe Pavlech said. “I thought everyone was locked in each possession. We all looked at the scoreboard and saw we were down by 10 and realized, ‘Guys, we don't want to go home.' We obviously knew Iowa was going to come out hard, but to have that great of a defensive effort shows what we can really do.”

The reigning Big Ten tournament champions won their seventh consecutive game and beat the Hawkeyes for a third straight time, including twice this season. Maryland (28-3) next faces 12th-seeded Northwestern in the semifinals today.

Junior center Brionna Jones (Aberdeen) led the Terps with 23 points and a game-high 15 rebounds, 10 of them offensive, for her 15th double double this season and the 30th of her career. The two-time first-team All-Big Ten selection made 10 of 18 field-goal attempts and helped Maryland to a 42-25 rebounding margin, including 28-9 in the second half, and to a 50-18 edge on points in the paint.

Junior guard Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, also first-team All-Big Ten the past two seasons, also had 23 points, along with eight rebounds and four steals, that contributed to Maryland's 30-15 buffer in points off turnovers. The Hawkeyes (19-13) committed 22 turnovers in losing for the first time in three games.

“We just started mixing it up a little bit, just throwing different wrinkles at them, trying to make them uncomfortable,” Walker-Kimbrough said of the defensive showing that limited Iowa to nine field goals after the first quarter. “They came out red-hot. They were comfortable coming out, stepping into their shots, hitting open shots. We wanted to make sure we contested all their shots.”

The closest Iowa got in the fourth quarter was 59-53 with 6:57 left, but the Terps put the outcome to rest with a 10-0 run. Half of those points came courtesy of Jones, who entered with the best field-goal percentage (.679) in the country.

Ahead by nine after two free throws to start the second half, Maryland allowed five straight points to Iowa before rebuilding the lead to 46-37. After the Hawkeyes got to within 46-41, greater defensive pressure forced a series of turnovers, allowing Maryland to push the ball in transition.

The result was 11 consecutive points, 10 of which came in the paint, for a 57-41 Maryland lead. Walker-Kimbrough got it going with a driving layup, and Jones and senior forward Malina Howard scored underneath.

Howard made one of two from the free-throw line, and the Terps had their largest lead to that point when senior forward Tierney Pfirman collected an offensive rebound and passed to Walker-Kimbrough for a layup. Iowa countered again, this time with a pair of 3-pointers and a three-point play overlapping the third and fourth quarters before the Terps pulled away.

Iowa opened the game at a blistering pace, racing to a 28-18 lead. The Hawkeyes, who scored a mild upset of eighth-seeded Michigan to reach the quarterfinals, made eight straight field goals during a 16-6 burst.

The surge didn't bother Maryland coach Brenda Frese enough to use a timeout, and her players recovered on their own by scoring the first 12 points of the second quarter, including a pair of layups from Walker-Kimbrough that delivered the Terps their first lead since shortly after tipoff. Walker-Kimbrough added a three-point play, and Maryland was in front 35-30.

“I thought we did a much better job of getting used to the jitters and coming ready to play in the second quarter,” Frese said. “Our defense, our rebounding improved. We were down in our rebounding at that point, so just the way we were able to play in the second quarter was huge.”