On a night when senior shooting guard Kelsey Bolte had trouble getting anything going, sophomore forward Chelsea Poppens had no trouble stepping into the spotlight. 

Poppens scored a career-high 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the Cyclones’ 66-57 victory over Texas on Monday. She shot 7-9 from the field and made nine of her 12 free throws. Poppens’ most important free throws came with 28 seconds left in the second period.

She got to the line in a bonus situation and put both free throws through, putting Iowa State up 54-52 before Texas’s Anne Marie Hartung put in a layup to force overtime.

The soft-spoken Aplington native showed that her actions spoke louder than words.

“It was kind of stressful for a little while, but it felt good,” Poppens said. “It felt like it was I was in a rhythm.”

She also said she didn’t really have a plan during the game — she was just trying to get her body to the ball.

This was Poppens’ third double-double of the season and her ninth game in which she has scored in double figures. Her performance at the free throw line was also a career high in makes and attempts.

“Popp[ens] was aggressive from the start and that’s the way she plays,” said coach Bill Fennelly. “For Poppens, its all about offensive rebounding and about getting to the basket. Tonight she finished and she made her free throws.”

Fennelly went on to describe Poppens as a player who is getting better each day and knows that she has a dramatic impact on the team.

Poppens was one of the main contributors in providing help for Bolte. Bolte finished with eight points on 3-16 shooting and 2-10 from behind the arc. In the Cyclones’ 71-45 victory over Colorado, she finished with 17 points, scoring 14 of them in the second half. The senior was held to just five points in the team’s loss to Texas Tech on the road.

The fact that the Cyclones were able to pull through in overtime, quickly made her forget about her statline.

“Poppens played great,” Bolte said. “She had a double-double, so I’m happy for her.”

The victory was nationally televised on ESPN2 and the Hilton crowd was decked out in all-white for a “white-out.” Just 1:38 into the game, Bolte drained a three-pointer that gave the Cyclones the national record of 511 consecutive games with a three point field goal.

Iowa State didn’t have a great second half, but Fennelly credits his team’s effort down the stretch.

“I was very proud of the effort of our team and how they found a way to win a game that definitely wasn’t the most aesthetic, Fennelly said. “Anyone who watched that game on TV saw a team that made a lot of mistakes, but never quit playing against a great team.”