The ISU women’s basketball team did something it hadn’t the last two games — it played well from the beginning. The Cyclones made 12 points before Drake even got on the board en route to the 69-40 victory.

For Iowa State, it eased some of those memories of last season’s nightmarish game when the Cyclones were outscored 30-2 in the final 12 minutes, giving Drake the 61-36 victory.

“[Last year’s game] was in our minds a little bit, but we seemed to have it handily by the middle of the second half,” said guard Anne O’Neil.

“We just wanted to stay strong and be dominating.”

The Cyclones held Drake to 27.6 percent shooting.

“[When you] shoot [27] percent from the field, it’s going to be a long night at Iowa State,” said Drake head coach Amy Stephens. “What our kids have to realize is when you shoot the ball bad, you have to go to the boards.”

Iowa State outrebounded the Bulldogs 45-34 and had 13 second-chance points.

The ISU defense held the Drake duo of Linda Sayavongchanh and Lindsay Whorton to a combined two points in the first half. Sayavongchanh averaged 11.4 points, and Whorton added 12.4 points per game.

“We had great looks and the ball just didn’t fall,” Stephens said. “I think we were tentative early, but I felt we had some pretty good looks and the ball just didn’t fall tonight.”

Sayavongchanh scored her first point on a free throw with 10:49 left in the game and finished with five points, four of them coming with less than two minutes remaining.

“I really thought when she plays well their team plays well,” said ISU head coach Bill Fennelly. “We didn’t let her get to the basket; she got a couple of garbage points, but, when the game was on the line, we guarded her well.”

O’Neil paced the Cyclones with 17 points and five rebounds. Her birthday was Wednesday.

“I circled [this date] on my calendar,” O’Neil said. “On or around my birthday hasn’t turned out so well, so this was a big game.”

Katie Robinette continued her strong play for the Cyclones contributing 10 points, eight rebounds and three steals.

Sophomore Tegan Stuart provided valuable minutes off the bench for the Cyclones. She replaced Lyndsey Medders in the starting lineup after halftime. Stuart finished the game with nine pints and two steals.

“I wasn’t here last year, but I still felt the sorrow and hardship everyone was talking about,” Stuart said. “We had a lot of stuff put up to remind us what happened last year and we didn’t want that to happen again.”

Stuart transferred to Iowa State from a junior college in Missouri. Fennelly said she’s still learning how to play at this level.

“Tegan, two games in a row, has really impacted how this team plays,” Fennelly said. “She gets out and guards and goes three-of-five from the 3-point arch.”

With the win, Iowa State moves to 5-1 on the season. The team heads to Cedar Falls on Saturday for its final game of the instate schedule against Northern Iowa.