Lyndsey Medders finally found her rhythm at Drake, and then she took it to another level.

The junior guard topped her career-high with a suffocating 32 points in the ISU women’s basketball team’s 69-57 defensive scrabble at the Knapp Center on Sunday.

Medders shot her way out of her scoring funk at the Junkanoo Jam, a combined 18-point effort in the last two games. Her previous best was a 24-point showing at Baylor last season.

After pouring in 15 in the first half, Medders surged to match that total and beyond, carrying her team to the win.

“Medders was dynamite tonight,” said Drake coach Amy Stephens.

ISU coach Bill Fennelly said Medders came through when she was needed most.

“We give Lyndsey a lot of responsibility to get us in our offense, and tonight she had a really good effort,” he said. “You never expect someone to go in and score 32 points, but her shot selection proved she could.

“There’s no doubt she can make an open shot when it presents itself.”

The Bulldogs (2-4) were out to avenge a 69-40 loss to the Cyclones last season, but Iowa State had a 61-36 loss at Drake two years ago on its mind.

“This was as big a win as we needed, and we wanted to lay it out there,” Medders said. “It was a very physical game, and they played a great game defensively. We just put a couple more shots in the basket.”

After a shaky start and initial turnover, Medders opened the game with a steal and a basket against Drake’s stifling defense. Freshman guard Jordann Plummer kept Medders in check, as did the rest of the Bulldog defense, which allowed only four ISU points in six minutes.

Iowa State countered with it’s own man-to-man coverage, a strategy that its shallow roster hadn’t allowed much this season.

Both teams had 14 turnovers, but Fennelly said that was a small accomplishment against a “hard-nosed, physical” team like Drake.

“It says a lot about the will of this team to go in and play 30 minutes of man-to-man defense, but it was something we thought we had to do,” Fennelly said. “If you look at the number of minutes these kids have to play, we’re not very deep. We were tired, but it really worked today.”

Medders was aided on the offensive by senior center Brittany Wilkins and freshman Heather Ezell, who each tallied 13 points in the win.

The play of Lisa Bildeaux, however, may have been one of the biggest factors of the game.

The sophomore came off the bench for 30 minutes, nabbing eight rebounds and six points, in addition to the praise of Fennelly.

“Lisa really impacted this game, and I thought that was a key 30 minutes for sure,” he said.

The Cyclones were still without the play of center Rachel Pierson, who remained sidelined with a sore back.

Wilkins’ heightened play has been a welcome addition, and Medders said games like this prove the team can work through any adversities.

“This could define our season, and we just have to keep doing the intangibles that will help us win games,” she said. “We’re not going to apologize for what we don’t have.

“We’re rolling from here.”