Not much stops senior point guard Alison Lacey from being Iowa State’s go-to player in a game. She may have only shot five-for-16 from the field against the Hawkeyes, but the Australian import finished the game with a triple double — 19 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds — to become just the second player in ISU history to do so.

“I think Alison Lacey had one of those games that if you’re a women’s basketball fan you’ll remember forever,” ISU coach Bill Fennelly said.

The first half was slow going from the field as Lacey shot just three-for-nine, but the six-foot point guard ripped down eight boards, dished in seven assists and snatched four steals in 20 minutes of play. With her 19 total points in the game, Lacey continued her streak of scoring double digits in every game this season.

Driving into the lane with four Hawkeye defenders on her, it may seem Lacey is preoccupied with the traffic around her in the lane — until she dishes off a lightning-quick pass to junior guard Kelsey Bolte in the left corner of the three-point arc, like she did numerous times against Iowa.

“Alison did a great job of finding me, distributing the ball to me really well, so credit to her,” Bolte said, who finished with a career-high 26 points against Iowa. “She can do it all out there, and I’m just glad to be her teammate.”

Lacey’s 13 assists and 11 boards were both career highs, and her five steals was just one shy of her career high. The senior leader was paired up with Iowa guard Kamile Wahlin, a key player for the Hawkeyes, and Lacey’s defense held Wahlin to just seven points on the night.

“[Lacey] has really good size,” Wahlin said. “I didn’t exactly get a lot of good looks tonight, but it’s a credit to her defense and her size.”

The lack of scoring by Lacey in the first half didn’t phase her, as she takes much more pride in her assists than her scoring she admitted following the game. But, like any experienced leader would do, Lacey found a way to put some points on the board in the second half. As she drove the lane numerous times after her infamous crossovers, Lacey drew fouls left and right, finding her way to the charity stripe seven times, and finished all seven.

“She’s an excellent point guard, and I love her size too, and her strength at the point guard position I think she creates some problems because of that and that’s why I think we really had to switch off of her,” said Iowa coach Lisa Bluder.

Lacey committed only one turnover in her 34 minutes of playing, bringing her to a total of 11 turnovers on the season. Heading into the game, Lacey led the nation in assist to turnover ratio, and extended that lead bringing her ratio to 5.8 on the season.

“You start talking about a point guard that has an assist to turnover ratio that’s almost impossible.” Fennelly said. “It just doesn’t happen, and that’s how she is every day in practice.

With four and half minutes left in the game, Lacey was subbed out, and the wide grin on her face was hard to miss as she received a standing ovation from the Cyclone fans. Iowa State’s energy was apparent throughout the entire game, as after almost every point Bolte or Lacey had a fist pump or a cheer to express their excitement.

“I think in all the years I’ve played here this is the most excited I’ve been, most nervous, I wanted to win so badly,” Lacey said.

Not only did Lacey come up with one of the most historical all-around performances in Cyclone history, but she did it in her final game of the Cy-Hawk series, showing the importance of the rivalry to Lacey.

“For someone who was not even born in this country, let alone this state, you can tell she understood what this game meant to a lot of people, and played out of her mind,” Fennelly said.