OKLAHOMA CITY- Iowa State was the last team to play their first game in this year’s Big 12 Tournament, but the Cyclones made sure they that would stick around at least for another day.

A 59-55 victory over the Texas Longhorns, with out senior guard Heather Ezell, was a drawn out slugfest, complete with 17 lead changes and nine ties. But Alison Lacey’s 25 point, 9 rebound effort put Iowa State over the top, and throws the title “Iowa State” onto the next bracket line for tomorrow’s 2:30 p.m. match-up with No. 2 seed Baylor.

“Certainly a very proud moment for our team, for our program,” said ISU coach Bill Fennelly. “We beat a really good team, and like we’ve done all year, it probably wasn’t the prettiest thing, but an effort that was very indicative of what we’ve done all season.”

Ezell, Iowa State’s leading scorer and the Big 12’s top 3-point shooter, injured her shooting hand in practice and did not play in the game. Lacey picked up the slack for her fallen comrade, and delivered the game for the Cyclones to grab.

“Alison Lacey basically put them on her shoulders, said, ‘we will not lose this game’, and that’s what happened,” said Texas coach Gail Goestenkors.

The Longhorns struggled offensively all game long, shooting 19-for-58 from the field against Iowa State’s balanced defense. Iowa State capitalized by knocking down eight 3-pointers and scorining 22 points in the paint.

Late in the game, Iowa State was down 50-47 when reserve guard Denae Stuckey hit her second three pointer of the season, to tie the game and change the game’s momentum for the last two minutes. Iowa State only allowed five Texas points in the last four minutes of the ball game, and forced 2-for-7 shooting and three turnovers from the Longhorns in the same period.

Texas lost their point guard Carla Cortijo in the first half after aggravating her broken finger from last night’s game. Cortijo had averaged nearly five assists per game, and her leaving the game had an impact on the way Texas was able to run the team.

“To have [Cortijo] out, we knew things would be different on the floor, but that’s no excuse. Other people need to step up,” said Texas forward Brittainey Raven. “And unfortunately, we didn’t do that the entire game.”

Texas was coming off of a comeback win in their match up against Missouri on Thursday night, and with momentum and proximity to the game site, Iowa State needed to feed off of motivation and get off to a quick start.

“There has been a lot of sitting and waiting, sitting in our hotels and watching the games here, and watching people with the bye first round, lose in the first game, so we were determined it wasn’t going to be us,” Lacey said.

The Cyclone crowd came out in droves, giving the hometown Sooner and Cowgirl crowds some competition for fanbase. A pep rally outside the Cox Convention Center got fans riled up, and the team performed through 20 minutes, taking a 27-23 lead to halftime, and slowing the pace to a comfortable level.

Lacey and the squad seemed to understand the situation, with no long distance threat to fall back on in Ezell, and performed early in the game with in the Iowa State fashion- a generous helping of defensive execution and a dash of three point shooting.

Fennelly commented that Ezell will not play for the remainder of the Big 12 Tournament due to the hand injury, and wants his long-distance bomber to be at full strength for the NCAA tournament next week.

“She has done so much for our team, so much for our program, she deserves the right to play as healthy as she can in the NCAA Tournament, and so we’re gonna hold her out until then, and I’ll think she’ll be fine,” Fennelly said.

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Alison Lacey, junior, guard, Iowa State (25 points and 5-for-6 from the arc, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, in 39 minutes)

QUOTABLE: 

“We’re excited about it, and we’re looking forward to tomorrow, but this is a moment for them to enjoy tonight. This is a moment for the players to enjoy being in this tournament, being in a great environment and beating a great team.” -ISU coach Bill Fennelly about beating Texas in the rematch.

“I don’t know that you really want to know my thoughts. It was rough.” -Texas coach Gail Goestenkors after press conference introduction.

WHAT IT MEANS:

No. 2 Baylor vs. No. 3 Iowa State on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

Baylor and Iowa State played to a Bears victory in Waco in January, and these teams could not be more different than they were for that game. Baylor’s leading scorer and rebounder Danielle Wilson has since been injured, and the team has been forced to adjust and come from behind for a Big 12 tournament game, while Iowa State is temporarily playing with out leading scorer Heather Ezell. Finding other scoring options will be a focus, but finding energy after two come from behind games, Baylor and Iowa State will look to duke it out with their balanced lineups and prime-time play.