Life on the bench can make players pretty anxious.

That’s what forward Chelsea Poppens and center Anna Prins learned in No. 23 Iowa State’s 67-52 win against Texas Tech on Saturday at Hilton Coliseum.

Poppens was benched for six minutes while Prins was benched for four into the first half due to receiving two fouls each. The absence of the senior leaders was noticeable on the offensive end as the Cyclones (15-5, 6-4 Big 12) shot just 38.1 percent from the floor.

“You’re worried about your team because, believe me, I’m not very good and I’m really not good when our two best post players aren’t playing,” said ISU coach Bill Fennelly on having Poppens and Prins on the bench. “And you feel bad for them because they’re seniors, they want to play so badly, and they want to do something right.

“The other thing you worry about is are they even going to be able to get it going again? That’s a long time to sit, but they stayed in the game. They were talking to their teammates and trying to help.”

In the second half, Poppens attempted to make up for time lost in the first half, getting a layup 12 seconds into the period and bringing the Cyclones within two points of the Lady Red Raiders (16-6, 6-4).

Poppens would go on to help the Cyclones lead with 18 points while putting in nine rebounds. Prins also bounced back and ended with 12 points and five rebounds.

“I think the second half, we played about as well as we could play,” Fennelly said. “To only be down four at half-time with our two senior post players basically sitting on the bench, and were assistant coaches the first half, I thought those two played like seniors.”

With the 78-75 overtime loss at Kansas still fresh in her mind, Poppens knew this game was important to come out with energy, especially at home.

“I know, for me at least, I was ready to get on the court and make up for those mistakes that I personally made the last game,” Poppens said. “I think that goes for everybody. Everybody just wants to get in there and give a better effort than they did the previous game.”

Without Poppens and Prins in the first half, junior forward Hallie Christofferson tried to hold the team together as she tallied 11 points in the period on 4-of-6 shooting while playing all 20 minutes.

At half-time, Christofferson sensed that everyone on the team knew exactly what they needed to do coming out of the break, and she wasn’t worried that the team wouldn’t be able to execute in the second half.

“The seniors knew they couldn’t make those silly fouls,” Christofferson said. “We knew we had to take care of the ball more and we only had five turnovers the second half. We knew they were short on the inside so we could definitely get the ball in and give the posts some work in there.”