It was a battle of the defenses in the conference opener between Iowa State and Nebraska on Saturday, Jan. 9 at Hilton Coliseum. The Huskers entered the game on a 13-0 undefeated record, while the Cyclones came in after a 12-1 nonconference record.

Nebraska’s defense fueled many victories in its nonconference season, and that defensive authority continued as the Huskers snatched Iowa State’s undefeated streak at home this season in a 57-49 Big 12 victory for the Huskers. The Cyclones (12-2, 0-1 Big 12) couldn’t seem to get into a rhythm offensively, and despite the valid effort from the Iowa State defense, Nebraska (14-0, 1-0 Big 12) finished with four players in double figures.

“They’re a very good defensive team, they switch a lot of screens, I think we passed up a lot of shots,” said coach Bill Fennelly said. “At this level you’re not going to get a wide-open shot with no one near you, you’ve got to be willing to pull the trigger.”

It’s no secret that a women’s basketball game at Hilton Coliseum is going to include plenty of threes. On Saturday, however, it wasn’t a typical night of ‘Hilton Magic.’

Aside from the first two points of the game, the Cyclones didn’t lead until the second half. Nebraska’s Dominique Kelley, Cory Montgomery and Yvonne Turner led the Husker surge to begin the game. It wasn’t until the five-minute mark of the first half that Cyclone fans really began to raise the volume.

A steal from freshman Jessica Schroll for a layup began a comeback for the Cyclones, putting the score at 16-22, and a bucket by freshman Chelsea Poppens followed. A turnover by the Huskers in the next possession was enough to turn up the fans at Hilton another notch.

A turnaround jumper by senior point guard Alison Lacey, an offensive rebound by Denae Stuckey and a put-back, started yet another burst of energy for the Cyclones putting the score at 22-26. And just when it seemed Hilton Coliseum had reached its maximum volume capacity, Lacey took a defensive rebound from coast to coast for a layup, bringing Iowa State within two.

But just as the Lacey layup had rallied the troops in Hilton, a three-point dagger by Turner with a minute and a half left evoked a disappointing sigh from the Cyclone crowd. Even with a three-pointer by Stuckey to end the half, Iowa State was still down 27-29 entering the locker room.

For the Cyclones, the only person who didn’t seem out of her game was Lacey, who was the only Cyclone aside from freshman Anna Prins that seemed willing to hoist up a shot. The Australian native, Lacey, finished with 23 points on the night.

“If we had one other person play to the level of Alison Lacey the outcome probably would’ve been a little different,” Fennelly said. “But that didn’t happen and that’s to Nebraska’s credit.”

Prins was the other Cyclone willing to shoot, and spurred a second-half comeback with the second bucket of the half for Iowa State to give them their first lead of the game at 31-29, and just over a minute later the six-foot-seven inch freshman came up with a huge block on the defensive end, raising the energy level in Hilton yet again.

Nebraska was scoreless in the first five minutes of the game, but three buckets in a row by Kelley created another Husker lead at 36-35, and from then on it seemed Nebraska had gotten its offensive groove back, and the Cyclones were unable to convert offensively to match the Huskers.

The Nebraska defense allowed opponents a low 53 points per game in the nonconference, and kept Iowa State under that average on Saturday night in Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones, however, may have accomplished even more of a defensive feat than the Huskers in that Nebraska was averaging 80.8 points per game as a team, and scored just 57 against Fennelly’s crew.

“They’re just tough, they’re physical I think sometimes we break under the pressure or sometimes we miss easy baskets that we should be making it,” Lacey said.

The usual Iowa State squad that shoots 21 three-pointers in a game may not have showed up for the Big 12 opener, as the Cyclones attempted just 12 shots from behind the arc, five of which came from Lacey.

“I think unfortunately the reason Alison Lacey took 21 shots is because her teammates wouldn’t shoot it and they threw the ball to her,” Fennelly said.

Another offensive mishap for the Cyclones was attempted to penetrate the lane and draw fouls. A team used to making over 14 free throws per game this season, only went to the line nine times and scored just seven points from the charity stripe.

“I thought our defense was as good as it could be,” Fennelly said. I thought our game plan was good for the most part.”

Part of the Cyclone game plan was keeping senior forward Kelsey Griffin from going off on the offensive end, as the six-foot-two inch Husker averages 19 points per game. While Iowa State was able to keep Griffin under her average, as just 13 points on the night, it was the three other Nebraska starters in double figures that cost the Cyclones.

And just as Iowa State had its game plan to slow down Griffin, Nebraska head coach Connie Yori had hers. Yori and the Huskers aimed to shut down the Cyclones from three-point land.

“We took them off the three-point line as much as we could and I thought really that was the difference,” Yori said.