WACO, Texas — Sophomore guard Lyndsey Medders scored a career-high 24 points Saturday, but the Cyclones still lost their third straight road game, falling to No. 7 Baylor 82-77.

Baylor guard Chelsea Whitaker was left open all night as the 19th-ranked Cyclones chose to double-team the Lady Bears inside. Coming into the game, Whitaker was averaging 3.3 points per game, and was shooting only 26 percent from the field. The strategy worked for the first half, with Whitaker going 0 for 4 from the field.

The second half was a different story, however.

“We couldn’t guard them in the post,” said ISU coach Bill Fennelly. “We were going to foul out the whole team. We gambled and lost.”

In the second half, Whitaker scored a career-high 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting, with most of her shots coming uncontested.

“It’s embarrassing. Who wants to be left wide open because they know you’re not going to shoot it?” Whitaker said. “You swallow your pride and just let it go.”

There wasn’t much the Cyclones could do to stop the Lady Bears’ offense. Senior center Steffanie Blackmon had 22 points and eight rebounds, and junior forward Sophia Young contributed 16 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.

“When you have a fifth scorer in the game, and you have the inside presence that team has, they’re going to be a tough out for a lot of people,” Fennelly said. “When they have that many weapons, it’s a pretty difficult defensive assignment for anyone, and obviously it was for us today.”

Medders’ 24 points led the Cyclones, senior forward Katie Robinette had 21 points and 12 rebounds, and senior guard Mary Fox added 18 points.

“I thought Iowa State played as good as I’ve ever seen them play,” said Baylor coach Kim Mulkey-Roberson. “I thought they were, as expected, a very well-coached basketball team.”

The loss moves the Cyclones two games back from first place in the Big 12 standings with only three games remaining.

“We came out here to win the game, not to play a close one and lose,” Robinette said. “We’ll learn from it and move on.”

Iowa State used a 9-1 run to get within three points at halftime and scored the first four points of the second half to take a 32-31 lead. It extended the lead to as much as five, but Baylor went on a 10-2 run, taking the lead for the remainder of the game.

Bench scoring was also a factor, as the Lady Bears led that category 21-0. After out-rebounding Baylor in the first half 18-17, the Cyclones grabbed only eight boards in the second half and lost that battle 37-26.

“Baylor’s a great team; they’re top 10 for a reason,” Fennelly said “We played as hard as we could play.”

Game notes

• Lyndsey Medders scored 24 points, a career high, on 9-of-17 shooting. Her previous high came last year in a double-overtime game against Iowa, when she scored 21 points in only her third game as a Cyclone.

• Iowa State was outrebounded 37-26, the eighth time this year the Cyclones’ opponent came out ahead on the boards. Seven of those eight games have been on the road.

• Road games are not treating the Cyclones well, as they have a 6-5 record away from home. They have been outscored 791-765 in 11 games on the road, compared with a 1,093-726 advantage in 13 games at Hilton Coliseum.

• Senior Mary Fox played 39 out of 40 minutes in the game, equaling her season high for minutes played. She logged 47 minutes in a double-overtime game against Iowa on Dec. 3, 2003.

• Katie Robinette posted a double-double on Saturday, scoring 21 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. It is her sixth double-double of the year and 11th of her career, the first five coming when she played at Nebraska as a freshman.

• Iowa State has played five games against teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25, posting a 2-3 record in those games. Baylor was the only team in the top 10 the Cyclones have played.

— Nathan Wilcke