COLLEGE PARK — If Iowa women’s basketball has shown all season how good a team can be with a superstar, Maryland showed Tuesday night just how good a cohesive team can be.

The No. 7 Terps jumped out to 20-point first-half lead over the No. 6 Hawkeyes — and National Player of the Year contender Caitlin Clark — at Xfinity Center on their way to a lopsided 96-68 win.

Maryland hit a season-high 14 3-pointers (shooting 53.8% from deep) as Brinae Alexander went 6-for-9 from 3-point range for a season-high 24 points.

With the dominant win, Maryland (23-5, 14-3 Big Ten) tied Iowa (22-6, 14-3) for second in conference, behind No. 2 Indiana. The Terps have won 10 of their past 11, with the lone loss in that span coming at Iowa earlier this month.

In that game Feb. 2 Clark poured in 42 points. But Tuesday night Maryland guard Lavender Briggs defended Clark for much of the night as the Terps frustrated one of the nation’s leading scorers with various zone looks.

Clark entered averaging 27.3 points and 8.3 assists per game, but she finished with just 18 points, her second-lowest total of the season.

The Terps lost five of their top six scorers from last year’s team to graduation and transfer and started this year with a rotation half composed of newbies.

But that returnee, Diamond Miller, is now a top WNBA prospect and a couple of other returnees have combined with four transfers to keep the Terps, perennially a strong team, as one of the nation’s best.

They’ve solidified a spot as an NCAA Tournament host and are on pace to be selected as a No. 2 seed.

Tuesday’s game, the Terps’ final one this season in College Park, began at a fast and furious pace with the teams exchanging quick possessions and 3-point tries. But in the second quarter Iowa — which leads the nation in scoring and the conference in 3-point makes — couldn’t keep pace with Maryland’s barrage from deep.

In the first half, four Terps hit multiple 3-pointers.

During the pivotal second quarter the Terps were without their best player, Miller, who had two fouls while Iowa still had its best player, Clark, for the entire period. It didn’t hurt Maryland, though, as it kept Clark in check and swiftly moved the ball around on offense to outscore Iowa 27-8 in the quarter.

The Terps finished with four players scoring in double digits. In addition to Alexander’s 24, Briggs had 19 points, Miller had 16 and Shyanne Sellers had 17.

The Terps will travel to No. 16 Ohio State on Friday for their final regular-season game.

They begin the Big Ten Tournament in Minneapolis next week.