IOWA CITY — Iowa State’s attempt at taking the lead in the annual Cy-Hawk series came up short Thursday night. The No. 19 Hawkeyes (9-1) secured a comfortable 62-40 victory over the No. 16 Cyclones (6-2).

Forward Morgan Johnson led the Hawkeyes with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

“She was just being aggressive,” said ISU senior shooting guard Kelsey Bolte. “She got [10] rebounds and that’s just playing hard. She had a great game.”

She had help from Kelly Krei and Kachine Alexander. Krei poured in 15 points and eight rebounds, while Alexander scored 13 points and was 5-of-8 shooting from the free throw line.

Junior point guard Lauren Mansfield led the Cyclones in scoring with 16 points to go with one assist. No other Cyclone reached double figures for the game as Kelsey Bolte was held to just eight points while grabbing six rebounds.

With Bolte and Mansfield combining for 24 of the team’s 40 points, coach Bill Fennelly said he would like to see more production from other members of the team.

“I thought Lauren Mansfield and Kelsey Bolte gave us every ounce of energy they had tonight,” Fennelly said. “Unfortunately, I can’t say that for anyone else tonight and that falls on me.”

Iowa coach Lisa Bluder was satisfied with the way her team was able to shut down Bolte. This was the first time Bolte finished a game with single digits for the first time this season.

“The defensive effort was very good,” Bluder said. “I thought Kachine did a great job on Kelsey Bolte. We have great respect for her with all the three’s she can put up, but I thought Kachine did a great job of not letting her get her shot off.”

Iowa jumped out to 22-8 lead in the first half before the Cyclones closed the gap to 26-21 heading into the locker room for halftime. Iowa State was able to keep it close in beginning of the second half, pulling within 32-25.

That’s the closest it got in the second half as Iowa went on a roll with Johnson as the catalyst and Krei’s hot hand from behind the arc.

Two glaring stats for Iowa State were the amount of points it gave up off turnovers and the matchups inside. ISU forward Anna Prins was in foul trouble most of the game while teammates Chelsea Poppens and Hallie Christofferson were held to a combined four points and three rebounds.

“Our post player made one basket the entire game,” Fennelly said. “That’s just not going to work.

Iowa finished with a 34-8 scoring advantage in the paint. 

The Hawkeyes are known for their high-pressure defense and that showed during the game. They forced 18 turnovers which led to a 26-10 advantage in points off turnovers.

“They were in the lanes and it was really hard to get through plays,” Mansfield said. “At times we didn’t really know what to do. Their defense was just really intense.”

Fennelly hinted at changes following the loss. He said that his team may play around with a four-guard lineup more often going forward. He also said the team may need to change the way it practices so it can be better prepared when it goes up against opponents like Iowa.

Iowa State is now 0-2 when playing away from Hilton Coliseum this season. Its other loss came to No. 10 West Virginia during the Paradise Jam tournament.

“You can tell they were very committed defensively tonight and did a great job of it,” Fennelly said. “We’re not going to be the last team that gets our butt kicked in this building, I can promise you that.”