Updated at 10:20 p.m. CST Jan. 5

Anne O’Neil and Katie Robinette combined for 42 points Wednesday as Iowa State upset No. 20 Kansas State 78-59 at Hilton Coliseum.

“It was our first conference game, and we had a huge advantage being at home,” forward Mary Fox said. “Obviously, our shooting was great.”

A great game for most teams is 50 percent from the floor. But Iowa State shot 65 percent for the game and a blistering 71 percent from behind the 3-point arc.

Defense was also key for Iowa State, as it held the Kendra Wecker, the Wildcats’ leading scorer, to only 16 points on 7-of-25 shooting. She had been averaging 21.6 per game so far this season.

“To shoot this well against a team this good and to execute this well, that says a lot about us,” O’Neil said. “We were really fired up for this game; they were ranked in the top 25, and it is something that we need to be able to prove ourselves.”

Despite the hot shooting of Iowa State, the Wildcats kept the game close and only trailed by eight at the half. They cut that lead to three points early in the second half, but that was as close as they would come.

“It seems like we were executing really well, and the second half was huge for us,” Robinette said. “We had a lot of defensive stops in the second half, and we almost beat them by 20 points. I don’t think anyone was expecting that.”

The Cyclones didn’t really put the game away until there was about six minutes left in the game. They held Kansas State scoreless for a four-minute stretch and increased the lead from 10 to 23.

“That was a huge win for our team in a lot of ways,” ISU head coach Bill Fennelly said. “I am blessed to have very bright kids, because the lineup they played, we did not practice for one time.”

Kansas State played a four-guard set, with the tallest player in the starting lineup measuring only 6 foot, senior Megan Mahoney. Wecker, who started at center for the Wildcats, stands only 5-11.

“Going into the game, I felt a level of confidence with our experience on the floor,” said KSU head coach Deb Patterson. “It was a really tough situation to put (freshman) Shana Wheeler in.”

Iowa State will hit the road for its next game, traveling to Colorado for an 8 p.m. Saturday game against the Buffaloes.