OKLAHOMA CITY – It wasn’t the prettiest win, but the ISU women’s basketball team survived to play another game.

Sophomore Nicky Wieben caught fire in the second half, leading the Cyclones to a 57-45 first-round victory against Kansas State on Tuesday at the Cox Convention Center.

The win improves Iowa State’s record to 23-7 (10-6 in Big 12) and pins the team with No. four seed Nebraska on Wednesday.

Wieben led all scorers with 18 points, scoring 14 in the second half. Both teams suffered through dismal shooting in the first half, with Iowa State shooting just 29 percent while Kansas State shot 24 percent.

“It was tough, and I thought both teams defended really well,” said ISU coach Bill Fennelly. “It was not a great shooting performance by two teams that normally shoot the ball well.”

Although the Cyclones didn’t exactly storm out of the gate in the second half, they took much better care of the basketball.

“We talked a lot about it at halftime about getting movement and getting better shots,” said ISU guard Lyndsey Medders. “Wieben did a really good job for a stretch in the second half as far as catching the ball and scoring.”

The difference in the game, though, was defense. The Cyclones allowed just two Wildcats to score in double figures, and held forward Claire Coggins and guard Kimberly Dietz to a combined 13 points.

Forward Shana Wheeler led all Wildcats with 17 points and 10 rebounds, her first double-double of the season, but it wasn’t enough against Iowa State’s stingy defense. Couple that with a Cyclone offense that finally got rolling, and a victory was inevitable.

“Once we got our rhythm going offensively in the second half, and got all the cobwebs out, it felt a lot better,” Medders said.

The score was tied four times, but the Cyclones never trailed, and finally shook off the 12th-seeded Wildcats at the end of the game.

Until there were about two minutes left, though, no outcome was certain. Including Tuesday’s tournament win, Iowa State went 3-0 against the Wildcats this season, and while the Cyclones were slow out of the gate, it wasn’t anything unexpected.

“It was the game we expected,” Fennelly said. “We’ve always had tough games against Kansas State. We knew exactly what the other was going to do.”

And in a survival-of-the-fittest championship tournament, it doesn’t matter how they advance. All that matters is that they do.

“At this time of year it’s the ultimate survive-and-advance,” Fennelly said. “Our team survived a very good team today.”