It was such a solid 20 minutes of basketball that even Bill Fennelly had a hard time finding something to complain about.

The ISU coach has been known to have the ability to pick apart even his team’s most successful performances, but the way the Cyclones played against Baylor left him with little to say at halftime.

“We could not have played any better,” Fennelly said. “When you play a team like that and you’re up 20 points at halftime, even with someone as crazy and goofy as me it was hard to find something to yell about.”

Even before the game tipped off, ISU women’s basketball had caught fire, as it converted on each of its first four attempts from three-point range.

It soon turned into one of those days when players made it look as easy as throwing a tennis ball into a swimming pool, as the Cyclones finished 16–32 from behind the arc against the nation’s sixth-best 3-point defense.

Second half leads got as high as 31 points, and the final buzzer concluded a 69–45 dismantling of the No. 15 Bears (17-7, 4-6 Big 12).

“I don’t think there’s a question that, from start to finish, offense to defense, that was the best 40 minutes we’ve played all year,” Fennelly said.

Iowa State (19–4, 7–3 Big 12) jumped ahead with a 16–2 opening run led by center Anna Prins, who knocked down two three-pointers on her way to scoring eight of the Cyclones’ first 13 points of the game.

The freshman spent most of the game being followed by Baylor’s 6-foot-8-inch Britteny Griner, an early favorite for the NCAA’s Freshman of the Year Award. 

Early on, Prins took advantage of Griner’s tendency to float around in the paint, catching the Baylor defense off guard by stepping behind the perimeter and knocking down her first two three-point attempts.

And all Griner could do was stretch out her enormous 88-inch wingspan in hopes of making a distraction as she was stuck virtually standing still in the middle of the lane.

Complimenting Prins in the same facet was forward Amanda Zimmerman, who also knocked down her first three-point attempt of the game and ended up leading the Cyclones with 15 points.

“One of our main focuses today was for (the post players) to step out because Griner stays in the lane so much,” said junior Kelsey Bolte. “So for them to step out and hit threes early and make her come out of the lane really helped us get open shots.”

Due to hot shooting from post players, Baylor was forced to divert some of their attention, leaving more opportunities for ISU guards to get open shots. Off-ball screens and quick passing led to ideal ball sharing for the Cyclones as they recorded a remarkable 20 assists on its first 20 baskets of the game.

“Our plan is always to share the ball,” Fennelly said. “So what we talked about was having a pass lead to a pass. When you get the ball be ready to make one more pass because they’re scrambling around to rotate, and our kids did it.”

The hot shooting soon became contagious, and before you could say “James H. Hilton Coliseum,” the wheels were already falling off for the Bears.

“Give them credit for what they did,” said Baylor coach Kim Mulkey. “They put on an exhibition for three point shooting. Some of those shots were just spectacular. It didn’t matter where you were guarding them, the shots were going in.”

The incredible display of outside shooting overshadowed the gritty defensive effort on the other end of the floor, where the Cyclones held the Bears 30 points below their season average and their lowest offensive output of the season.

Griner, who averages 19.3 points per game, was held to just 10 points and seven rebounds in the contest. This came right after the two consecutive triple-doubles she recorded to make her last week’s Big 12 Player of the Week.

However, Iowa State has little time to celebrate the win, as a road date with undefeated No. 4 Nebraska (23–0, 10–0) looms on the horizon this week. Tip off at the Devaney Center in Lincoln is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Wednesday evening.