Just three days after a loss to in-state rival Iowa in Carver-Hawkeye Arena, the No. 22 ISU women’s basketball team bounced back on Sunday afternoon defeating Fairfield 60-43 in Hilton Coliseum.

The Lowdown

Forward Chelsea Poppens, who did not start Sunday against Fairfield, came off the bench and contributed to an early ISU lead. After racing out to a 10-2 lead, the Cyclones (6-1) extended that advantage against the Stags (5-3) by as many as 17 points when the ISU lead was, 36-19.

To end the first half, Iowa State’s lead was cut to 12 points and it went into halftime with a 40-28 lead. Iowa State extended its lead by 19 points to start the second half not allowing Fairfield to threaten a comeback in the game.

The X-Factor

Junior forward Hallie Christofferson led all scorers with 18 points. Christofferson, who the Cyclones looked to for production in the absence of forward Chelsea Poppens for the past few weeks, also had five rebounds and one assist.

Turning Point

Leading by only 12 points at halftime, Iowa State opened up the second half going on a 11-4 run bringing its lead to 51-32. Owning a 19 point lead allowed the Cyclones to bring in freshman guard Emiah Bingley who finished the game with two rebounds and two assists.

By The Numbers

4: Turnovers by each team in the first half of the game.

6: Assists by point guard Nikki Moody in the first half. Moody had one turnover before halftime.

3: Players in double-figure scoring for the Cyclones. Christofferson had 18 points, Poppens with 12 points, and Brynn Williamson added 12 points in the win.

100: percentage of free throws made for Iowa State. The Cyclones were 3-3 from the charity stripe.

Quotables

ISU coach Bill Fennelly on Poppens missing shots she normally makes.

“I told Pop before the game, you missed three games. You average 13 points a game and you’re not going to get 39 [points] back today. It’s just not going to happen. I think she was pretty juiced up to play.”

Christofferson on her excitement at having Poppens back on the court.

“I got a little fired up too when the crowd gave her an ovation. You could definitely feel her presence. She went in there and she just started back right where she ended. She hustled to the rebounds and did everything else.”

Poppens on the Cyclones having just 13 turnovers in the win.

“I think the first half we did really well, we only had four turnovers. I think we were just being more patient with it. Second half, I think we were just panicking a little bit and they were playing pretty good defense on us; weren’t letting us get wide open looks to the hoop. The second half we just didn’t do as well taking care of it.”