The ISU women’s basketball team came into Sunday’s home matchup against No. 17 Texas Tech with its sights set on its first conference win.

The Cyclones (10-7, 1-5 Big 12) got just that with a 66-49 victory against the Red Raiders (14-4, 2-4).

The Red Raiders exchanged baskets with the Cyclones for the first part of the first half before Iowa State slowly began to branch off, and for the first time this season, Iowa State was clicking on all cylinders.

“Everything started to click and there’s going to be the low points and we just have to pick ourselves up from that, but it just felt good,” said sophomore Hallie Christofferson. “We were having fun, we were smiling out there.”

Christofferson’s 19 points off the bench was a huge boost for the Cyclones, who shot 36 percent (9-of-25) from beyond the arc and 76 percent (19-of-25) from the free-throw line Sunday afternoon.

After the game, TTU coach Kristy Curry was quick to commend Iowa State’s effort in the lopsided contest.

“Typical Iowa State fashion, so certainly credit their energy,” said Curry in the postgame news conference. “I thought our posts flat-out got embarrassed with their energy and effort today and credit Iowa State [for that].”

As the first half was coming to a close, Iowa State’s lead had dwindled down to three, but with just four seconds left, Chassidy Cole took a contested 3 and put the nearly 12,000 fans on their feet with a buzzer-beater. Cole said the momentum swing was huge.

“I think that was a momentum booster because we were all really excited in the locker room,” Cole said.

Last-second shots like Cole’s have come against the Cyclones a few times this season to deflate their sails, but coach Bill Fennelly said it was good to have one go their way and wasn’t surprised at who took it.

“To me, that’s what seniors do,” Fennelly said.

The Cyclones continued the shooting surge into the second half behind nine offensive rebounds. Christofferson, along with Lauren Mansfield, continued her hot shooting, and Fennelly said he was glad to see them starting to take more shots.

“We talked to [Mansfield and Christofferson] about being selfishly unselfish,” Fennelly said. “They made some big shots that gave our team a chance to win.”

Chelsea Poppens continued her defensive prowess she has had all season long for the Cyclones, notching her eighth double-double with 10 points and 15 rebounds. More importantly, Poppens contained the Red Raiders’ leading scorer Kierra Mallard to zero points.

She wasn’t able to get into a rhythm at the beginning of the game and Fennelly said that carried over into the second half as well.

“Holding her down a little bit early really made a difference,” Fennelly said.

The win stopped a five-game conference losing streak for the Cyclones and extended the Red Raiders’ current losing streak to four, but Christofferson said it’s equally important to not take a step back.

“We have to bring the energy from what we did tonight and bring it to K-State,” Christofferson said.

The Cyclones hit the road to take on the Wildcats at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Manhattan, Kan.