IOWA CITY, Iowa (Interstat) — Ava Heiden scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and Iowa used a dominant early run to beat Eastern Illinois 80-39 on Thursday in a women’s NCAA Division I basketball game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Iowa improved to 2-0, while Eastern Illinois fell to 0-2. The Hawkeyes opened the season with a 73-45 home win over Towson. The Panthers opened with a 76-54 loss at Drake. A crowd of 13,314 attended the game. Eastern Illinois was playing its second straight road game, while Iowa was playing its second straight home game.

The decisive part came in the first quarter. Ava Stoller made a layup at the 8:35 mark to give Eastern Illinois its only lead at 2-0. Iowa answered with a 9-0 run. McKenna Woliczko hit a 3-pointer, Woliczko added a tip-in layup, and Ava Heiden made back-to-back layups to make it 9-2. Abbie Boutilier made two free throws for Eastern Illinois, but Taylor Stremlow answered with a layup. Nevaeh Dickman hit a jumper and Clara Glad made a 3-pointer to pull the Panthers within 11-9. Woliczko and Dani Carnegie closed the quarter with layups, and Iowa led 17-10 after one. Alahnna Simpson made one free throw for Eastern Illinois before Carnegie’s late layup.

Eastern Illinois’ Ava Stoller opened the second quarter with a floating jumper, but Iowa responded with a fast-break jumper from Chazadi Wright, a Woliczko tip-in and a Heiden layup. Dickman made a free throw for Eastern Illinois, and Amari Whiting made two free throws for Iowa. Woliczko added a layup, Carnegie made a floating jumper, and Layla Hays made two free throws as Iowa pulled away. Stoller made two free throws, Wright hit a jumper, and Janyah Bohanon made one free throw for Eastern Illinois. Hays made one free throw, Journey Houston hit a jumper, and Heiden made a layup. Dickman answered with a layup, and Heiden made two more layups. Faison’s layup just before halftime gave Iowa a 44-18 lead.

Glad made two free throws to start the third quarter, but Whiting answered with a layup. Woliczko made a layup and a 3-pointer, and Faison made two free throws as Iowa went ahead 53-20. Boutilier made a hook shot for Eastern Illinois, but Stremlow hit a 3-pointer. Hays made one free throw, Glad made a layup, and Stoller hit a jumper to keep Eastern Illinois moving. Bohanon added a jumper, Carnegie made a 3-pointer, and Stoller made two free throws. Iowa led 60-30 after three quarters.

Heiden was Iowa’s top star, finishing with 15 points, eight rebounds, two assists and one block in 22 minutes. The 6-foot-4 center and Sherwood product had seven points and seven rebounds in Iowa’s season-opening win over Towson. Woliczko, a 6-foot-2 forward from San Bruno, Calif., and an Archbishop Mitty High School product, added 22 points and four rebounds in 23 minutes. Whiting, a 5-foot-10 guard from Burley High School, had four points, seven rebounds and seven assists in 25 minutes. Carnegie, a 5-foot-9 guard from Grayson, had 12 points, seven rebounds and two assists in 23 minutes. Houston, a 6-foot guard from North High School, had five points and five rebounds in 16 minutes. Faison, a 6-foot-1 guard from Langston Hughes, had six points, four rebounds and one assist in 18 minutes. Hays, a 6-foot-5 center from Wasilla High School, had four points and three rebounds in 17 minutes.

Stoller, a 5-foot-6 guard from St. Petersburg, led Eastern Illinois with 10 points, four rebounds and two assists in 29 minutes. Glad, a 6-foot guard from Rogers High School, had nine points and four rebounds in 33 minutes. Boutilier, a 6-foot-10 center from Flower Mound, had six points, four rebounds, one assist and one block in 22 minutes.

Iowa shot 31 of 70 from the floor, 9 of 28 from 3-point range and 9 of 14 from the free-throw line. Eastern Illinois shot 12 of 38 overall, 2 of 9 from beyond the arc and 13 of 16 from the line. The Hawkeyes held a 19-2 advantage in offensive rebounds, posted 16 assists to Eastern Illinois’ eight, and committed 12 turnovers to the Panthers’ 26. Eastern Illinois had four blocks to Iowa’s two.

Eastern Illinois scored 39 points from 70 possessions for an offensive rating of 56.0. Iowa scored 80 points from 70 possessions for an offensive rating of 114.9. The Panthers’ offensive rating came while making 12 field goals, and Iowa paired its 31 field goals with 19 offensive rebounds and 16 assists.

In the fourth quarter, Carnegie opened with a 3-pointer, Heiden made the second of two free throws, and Woliczko hit a 3-pointer as Iowa stretched its lead to 67-30. Wright made a 3-pointer to make it 70-30. Nyah Hardy made two free throws for Eastern Illinois, and Heiden answered with a layup. Glad made a layup, but Woliczko made another 3-pointer. Boutilier made a tip-in layup, Hardy made a 3-pointer, and Houston answered with a 3-pointer for Iowa. Faison closed the scoring with a layup.

Eastern Illinois next visits Iowa State, then plays at Saint Louis, hosts Evansville and visits Southern Illinois. Iowa next faces Connecticut, then hosts Northern Iowa, Vanderbilt, Montana State, Utah and Navy. Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Iowa 68, Eastern Illinois 57 before the game. Its ELO system projected Iowa with a 99.9 percent probability to win.