IOWA CITY — After ending the first half on a 13-4 run and being down only 26-21, Iowa State seemed poised for another second half outburst like it has done numerous times this season.

But, playing an experienced Iowa squad in front of a raucous crowd of 6,364 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, the Cyclones were unable to work any second half magic, falling 62-40 at the hands of the No. 19 Hawkeyes.

“That was a great environment for a women’s college game, unfortunately we didn’t do our part to make it a great game,” said coach Bill Fennelly.

What appeared to be a close game at halftime swayed in Iowa’s favor early on in the second half as the Cyclones were outscored 17-6 through the first eight minutes of the half. Foul trouble for sophomore Anna Prins, junior Lauren Mansfield and sophomore Jessica Schroll forced Fennelly to use the entire ISU bench in the second half.

The five-point halftime margin widened further as the Hawkeyes’ Morgan Johnson knocked in five of six shots from the field and grabbed six of her game-high 10 rebounds in the second half. Searching for their own offensive spark, Fennelly used up all of the Cyclones’ timeouts with 4:12 still remaining in the game.

“I think we needed to be more ready and prepared for when things didn’t work, finding other ways to get things done,” Mansfield said.

In a game that started out with a 2-0 lead for the Cyclones, Iowa ran the score up to a 60-36, insurmountable lead with 3:10 left in the game.

“They had a good defensive game plan, we couldn’t really score in the second half, they really shut us down and guarded me really well,” Bolte said.

Bolte scored a season-low eight points on the night.

“They brought even more defensive pressure than they did in the first half, they obviously played really good defense in the first but really turned it up a notch in the second,” Bolte said.

Offensively, the Cyclones shot a measly 22.2 percent from the field in the second half and finished the night with only three assists for the entire team. Junior point guard Lauren Mansfield, who had one of those assists, entered Thursday’s matchup averaging seven assists per game.

“They were in the lanes and everyone was really on their player,” Mansfield said. “It was hard to get through plays, it kind of felt like I didn’t know what to do, their defense was completely intense.”

Fouls and turnovers severely hindered Iowa State’s defensive efforts on the night. The ISU bench was thinned after committing 15 team fouls and after giving up eight turnovers in the first half, the Cyclones were unable to hold onto the ball with 10 more turnovers with a few that Fennelly described as “ridiculously silly.”

The staggering Iowa defense forced 18 turnovers on the night and allowed only 40 points, its lowest total since the 2007-08 season.

“West Virginia exposed us some, Iowa exposed us some and we have to be ready for that and obviously tonight we didn’t show that, we have to figure it out,” Fennelly said.

The Cyclones will now gear up for a Sunday afternoon showdown with Columbia at Hilton Coliseum. The opening tip is set for 12:30 p.m.