IOWA CITY — Iowa’s Kamille Wahlin couldn’t find any rhythm Sunday, but the Hawkeye sophomore never lost her sense of timing.

Wahlin hit two critical baskets in the final four minutes of a 75-67 women’s basketball victory over Illinois State in the championship game of the Hawkeye Challenge.

“Sometimes, the rhythm isn’t there but when you’re coming down the stretch you can’t worry about that,’’ Wahlin said. “You just have to go.’’

In a back-and-forth battle with the Redbirds, the Hawkeyes closed the game with a 17-4 run as they overcame a 63-58 deficit in the game’s final 6:05.

Iowa cut into the Illinois State lead at the line where it enjoyed a 22-11 edge before a 3-pointer from the right of the key by Wahlin moved Iowa ahead to stay at 64-63 with 3:46 remaining.

A lay-in by Maggie Krick, who led the Redbirds with 24 points, inched ISU within a 68-65 score with 1:05 to play, but Wahlin answered with a jumper on the ensuing possession to help short-handed Iowa finish off its second win in as many days.

“We beat an extremely well-disciplined, well-coached team that doesn’t make a lot of mistakes and given the adversity we’ve dealt with, losing four players in the last week, I’m proud of the way we responded,’’ Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said.

Injuries left the Hawkeyes without senior center JoAnn Hamlin as well as guards Hannah Draxten and Theairra Taylor on Sunday. Forward Gabby Machado was limited to one minute after injuring an ankle in Saturday’s win over Santa Clara.

Iowa relied early on the 3-point shot and Kelly Krei helped the Hawkeyes to a 36-31 halftime lead with 4-of-6 shooting from behind the arc during the opening half.

Kachine Alexander led four Hawkeyes in double figures with 21 points and collected nine of her 12 rebounds on the offensive glass. The sophomore also had four steals as part of a defensive effort that flustered the Redbirds.

“We were pretty streaky, hot and cold. Iowa went back and forth between its man and zone defenses and we didn’t adjust as well I would have hoped,’’ Illinois State coach Robin Pingeton said.

“Our focus over 40 minutes wasn’t what it needed to be. We didn’t rebound the way we did against UCLA (on Saturday) and if you can rebound with UCLA, you should be able to rebound with anyone.’’

Sunday’s title match-up placed long-time friends on opposite benches.

Iowa’s Bluder recruited Pingeton to play for her teams at St. Ambrose where the Illinois State coach remains the Davenport university’s career scoring and rebounding leader.

Pingeton called Bluder a “huge influence’’ on her life, but their friendship took a 40-minute timeout Sunday.

“Once the ball goes up, your thoughts are on the game,’’ Bluder said. “I’ve been fortunate to have a couple of former players get into coaching. You just feel good that they enjoyed their experience and the game so much that they made it their career.’’