The ISU women’s basketball team beat Iowa 62-54 on Wednesday night in a game where each team traded big runs and long offensive droughts.

“I told the kids before the game that this is not like any other game, and coach-speak says it is. It’s not to our fans, it’s not to our players and not to our coaches,” ISU coach Bill Fennelly said. “We won the game because we were guarding, certainly not our scoring.”

The Cyclones (5-2) jumped out to an early 16-9 lead with 10:28, when the Hawkeyes (5-4) went to a zone that stifled the ISU offensive attack.

From that point, the Hawkeyes took control of the first half, going on a 18-2 run that lasted eight and a half minutes and ended with Iowa leading, 27-20 with 1:51 remaining in the first half.

“We were up seven against their man, they went to a zone, and we had at least four layups we missed, so they could stay in a zone,” Fennelly said. “Tonight we were just really struggling offensively.”

Iowa State closed the gap quickly, however, as Cyclone guard Nikki Moody hit a three with five second remaining in the half.

The Hawkeyes immediately turned the ball over and a Cyclone inbound play resulted in a layup and a made free throw by Hallie Christofferson to put the cut the deficit to 27-26 going into halftime.

Iowa State retained momentum coming out of half time, stretching their 6-0 spurt into a 19-3 run, as they took a 37-30 lead and senior guard Lauren Mansfield found her offense.

Fennelly said getting Mansfield the ball and running sets for her was an emphasis in the Cyclone offense.

“That’s big for me and big for my confidence, just knowing that (Fennelly) is still going to go to me,” Mansfield said. “It makes me feel good. It makes me want to shoot.”

Mansfield led the Cyclone attack with 15 points on 6 of 12 shooting, followed by freshman guard Brynn Williamson, who came off the bench to score 11 points on 4-7 shooting.

“I got a first glimpse of (the rivalry) at the football game, but there’s nothing like when you’re in Hilton and both teams are there and the fans are there,” Williamson said. “It’s not like any rivalry in high school.”

Junior forward Chelsea Poppens was the only other Cyclone in double figures, adding 10 points and nine boards on the night for the Cyclones.

Up next for the Cyclones is Mississippi Valley State on Sunday at 2 p.m. in Hilton Coliseum.