OKLAHOMA CITY – It was a warm, sunny day in Oklahoma City. Inside the Cox Convention Center, though, it was raining threes.

The ISU women’s basketball team has often said it lives and dies by the 3-pointer. In Thursday night’s Big 12 semifinal win over Texas A&M, the Cyclones lived.

Thursday’s game saw the Cyclones improve their NCAA-leading 3-point streak to 366 consecutive games. The Cyclones connected on 10-of-29 threes, each coming at a critical time in the game.

“That was a good sign for all of us,” said ISU guard Lyndsey Medders, who was 2-for-5 from beyond the arc. “We rely so much on momentum, and a lot of that does come from the 3-point shot.”

What builds momentum for the Cyclones often deflates the opposition, as was the case for Texas A&M on Thursday night.

And better yet for the Cyclones, their opponents have yet to find a chink in their armor.

“They can attack off the bounce and maybe not finish, but they’ll free somebody up and they will continue running their offense,” said Texas A&M coach Gary Blair. “What they don’t do well, obviously we haven’t exploited it.”

Three-pointers falling often was a great sign early on for the Cyclones, who were having trouble getting the ball inside.

However, the three opened up the offense, and Iowa State started getting great looks everywhere on the floor.

“When you’re trying to stay in the game and people are making threes on you, you want to extend the defense,” said ISU coach Bill Fennelly. “When you do that, obviously you’re going to have a little more options in the post . And I think the three-ball made a real difference for that.”

And the confidence soared.

Every time Texas A&M made a run – including tying the game late in the second half on more than one occasion – Megan Ronhovde (3-for-9), Heather Ezell (3-for-9) or Amanda Nisleit (1-for-1) appeared to have an answer.

“[Alison] Lacey and Heather Ezell did a great job of keeping us in our offense, and we made enough big shots to impact the game” Fennelly said. “We were able to stay fairly efficient offensively and score enough points.”

As possible showers move into the Oklahoma City area this weekend, there will be a different kind of storm brewing in the Cox Convention Center. A Cyclone.