All streaks have to start somewhere.

Three days after having its 13-game home streak halted by No. 13 Texas, No. 21 Iowa State laid the foundation for another lengthy run Wednesday night against Nebraska.

With the memory of two consecutive heartbreaking losses still fresh on their minds, the Cyclones put together a commanding 61-38 victory over the Huskers.

“It was a game our players understood what they needed to do and it was one of those business like wins we needed,” head coach Bill Fennelly said.

Junior Alison Lacey, who became the 21st Iowa State player to record 1,000 career points, provided an offensive spark for the Cyclones, scoring 20 points,

Thanks to a few designed plays, senior Nicky Wieben also turned out a big game, recording 17 points and 4 rebounds.

“Instead of just posting her up, we tried to get her to the free-throw line and run her to the basket so she’s scoring on the move,” Fennelly said. “Certainly she became an offensive option for us that we haven’t had for a long time.”

Iowa State got off to a fast start, jumping out to an early 8-0 lead. Nebraska, however, used a string of 3-pointers to rally in less than two minutes to go-ahead 11-10.

Fending off another Husker rally, the Cyclones’ tenacious defense finally started to key in, allowing the offense to finish the half on a 12-2 run. The second half proved to be much of the same as Iowa State kept Nebraska’s offense out of sync.

 “We’ve been struggling to score all year. It’s definitely been our Achilles heel. And Iowa State knows how to play us,” Nebraska coach Connie Yori said.

Nebraska’s leading scorer, Cory Montgomery, was held to only three points.

The rest of the team struggled to produce points as well, shooting only 31.9 percent from the field.

The Cyclones took advantage of a number of open looks from the perimeter, cashing in for eight 3-pointers.

“We went under screens when we should have been going over the top and they hit those threes,” Yori said.

Turnovers also plagued the Huskers as they gave the ball up to the Cyclones 21 times. Iowa State made them pay for each one, scoring 21 points off of turnovers.

After Kansas State and Texas both lost Wednesday, Iowa State is now in a four-way tie for third place in the Big 12, with only five games remaining on the schedule.