The ISU women’s basketball team defeated Carthage 76-49 on Wednesday night in its final exhibition game.

Carthage started the game up 5-1 until a four-point run by Iowa State tied the game 5-5. The first half was back and forth with three separate ties until senior forward Hallie Christofferson had a four-point play.

“Last game, we came out a little bit better than we did tonight. We were slow off the start, and you could definitely tell that they had some great shots and that got them going,” Christofferson said. “We were just kind of slow tonight.”

Christofferson went on a 6-0 run to put Iowa State up 20-19 with 9:04 left in the first half. Iowa State only allowed Carthage to score two more points in the half.

Iowa State went on a 14-0 run to finish the half up 39-21. Christofferson led the half with 11 points and five rebounds for the Cyclones.

Iowa State saw action from its bench much earlier than its previous exhibition game. Everyone on Iowa State’s roster made an appearance in the first half with the exception of freshman forward Jordan Jensen, who later played in the second.

In the second half, Carthage scored its first points after almost six minutes of play dating back to the first half. A layup by Carthage’s Kristi Schmidt made it 39-32 Iowa State.

Iowa State outscored Carthage in the second half 39-28. Christofferson finished the game with 17 points and six rebounds. There were three Cyclones with double-digit points against the Lady Reds. 

“I thought both [exhibition] games, we going out of them what we needed. It was nice, especially tonight, to see everyone play and get some minutes and get some extended minutes,” said ISU coach Bill Fennelly. 

Iowa State’s regular season begins on Sunday with a game against North Dakota.

“Overall I don’t think there was anything earth shattering about the game. We know we got to get better and get ready for North Dakota on Sunday,” Fennelly said.