BERKELEY, Calif. — Up until Monday night, 3-point land had been very kind to the ISU women’s basketball team during postseason play.

But all the magic it had produced in the first three rounds of the NCAA Tournament suddenly disappeared during Iowa State’s matchup against Stanford in the Elite Eight.

After averaging 12 three-pointers per game in the opening three rounds of the tournament, including an NCAA Tournament-record 16 in the first round, the Cyclones knew they had continue to knock down a considerable amount to overcome Stanford’s presence in the middle.

But that never happened. The Cyclones managed to shoot just 4-for-14 from downtown in the first half, forcing them out of any offensive rhythm and leaving them trailing by 13 at the break. Three of those four treys came from senior Amanda Nisleit, who was the only Cyclone to score more than four points in the opening half.

“We rely on our three a lot,” said guard Alison Lacey. “But we didn’t have a great shooting night tonight. Our game plan was to make threes and to give them tough twos, and it’s hard to keep up with them without making any shots.”

Iowa State’s three starting guards — Lacey, Heather Ezell and Kelsey Bolte — average six three-pointers made per game combined this season, but only managed to go 1-for-15 from beyond the arc against the Cardinal.

Even Ezell, Iowa State’s best long-distance sharpshooter, struggled from beyond the arc all game, including her inability to convert on all six attempts in the first half.

However, the senior finally connected at the 9:42 mark in the second half for her only trey of the game, and that single three-pointer tied Ezell with Megan Taylor (1999-2002) for first all-time in school history for the most 3-point field goals made in a career: 278.

The team that led the Big 12 in three-pointers made per game all season by a large margin picked the inopportune time to break their recent hot streak from long distance, as Monday night was their lowest 3-point output since a road loss against Kansas on Feb. 22.

“They were guarding us tough on the outside,” Ezell said. “There was always a hand in your face, so we didn’t get a lot of open looks. They knew we were shooting the ball really well from 3-point land so they were going to guard us the best they could out there.”

Nisleit lone representative on All-Tournament Team

With her 17 points in each of Iowa State’s two games in the Berkeley regional, senior Amanda Nisleit become the only Cyclone to earn All-Tournament honors. The Woodbury, Minn. native shot a blistering 8-for-12 from behind the 3-point arc and had nine rebounds in the Cyclones’ games against Stanford and Michigan State. Stanford center Jayne Appel, who tallied 25 and 46 points in the Cardinal’s two games to go along with 27 total rebounds, was named the Most Valuable Player of the regional.

All-Tournament Team

Jayne Appel, Stanford (MVP)

Jeanette Pohlen, Stanford

Jillian Harmon, Stanford

Amanda Nisleit, Iowa State

Allyssa DeHaan, Michigan State

Samantha Prahalis, Ohio State