Another home game, another ISU win. Works just fine for the ISU women’s basketball team.

“The last women’s game played in this building is not going to be played by someone else,” ISU head coach Bill Fennelly said, referring to Sunday and Tuesday NCAA Tournament games hosted by Iowa State. “That’s the way it should be for June [senior Erica Junod].”

Friday, 17-14 Iowa State fell behind by 12 early against Miami of Ohio before a 13-0 run in front of another raucous Hilton Coliseum crowd made the game close.

A 23-5 run put the game away for Iowa State in the second half when it finally put together an extended stretch of strong defense, rebounding and transition offense.

“I thought the last 15 minutes, we played as hard as we could play,” Fennelly said.

Iowa State’s average attendance, ranked ninth nationally this season, means the Cyclones can all but put their suitcases in the back of the closet. Since the postseason Women’s National Invitation Tournament expanded to 32 teams in 1999, four of the five champions have played all their games at home. Among teams in this year’s field, only Washington, at 4,633, averaged even half the draw as Iowa State at 7,601. Attendance is the most important determinant for hosting games.

“The crowd definitely helped us out tonight,” said freshman Megan Ronhovde, who nailed four 3-pointers for the second straight game and led Iowa State with 15 points.

“[The crowd] started to fire me up,” said RedHawks coach Maria Fantanarosa.

The Cyclones will take a few days off before hosting a quarterfinal game Thursday at a time yet to be determined. The opponent will be the winner of a 1 p.m. Sunday matchup between Seton Hall and St. Joseph’s in Philadelphia.

Miami of Ohio came to Hilton with a 22-8 record, the Mid-American Conference regular-season title, a six-game road winning streak and the nation’s fifth-rated offense.

The RedHawks were the game team early, taking advantage of several turnovers, keeping the Cyclones from getting the ball inside and leaping to an early 8-1 advantage in rebounding.

“We were just not doing what we practiced,” said guard Mary Fox. Fox came off the bench and immediately grabbed a pair of rebounds before hitting a key 3-pointer during the Cyclones’ rally to a 25-24 lead. She finished with 12 points and nine rebounds.

“As much as anyone on this team, Mary Fox can energize this team,” Fennelly said. “She [has learned] to impact the game when she’s not making her shot.”

Miami of Ohio led 31-29 at halftime, and neither team was able to put together an extended run through the first half of the closing 20 minutes.

Lyndsey Medders and Anne O’Neil, two of four Cyclones to finish in double figures, led the final offensive charge by penetrating and getting fouled. The guard tandem combined for 16-of-17 accuracy from the line.

“We really took the ball at them a lot more tonight,” Fennelly said.

“I was going to do anything I could to kind of get us back into it,” Medders said, saying she blamed herself for putting Iowa State in its early hole. “I think we just cleaned up and took a lot better care of the ball.”

Miami of Ohio shot 25 percent in the second half, which Fantanarosa said was a consequence of Iowa State’s uptempo play and her short bench.

“We fought hard with them, I felt, for 32 minutes,” she said. “Their shots went in at the end; ours started to get tired.”

Ticket information for Thursday’s game will be posted at www.cyclones.com Sunday. The game might be a women’s-men’s doubleheader — if the Cyclone men win at Florida State on Tuesday and are granted a home game for a National Invitation Tournament quarterfinal. The Cyclones play at 6 p.m. Tuesday in a game that will be televised by Mediacom, channel 22 in Ames.

Iowa State 71, Miami (Ohio) 57

at Ames

Miami (57) – Jackson 4-13 0-1 10, Motto 1-6 0-0 3, Merrill 4-12 3-3 11, Day 6-9 5-8 17, Lancaster 3-10 0-0 6, Ntumba 0-0 0-0 0, Beck 1-2 0-0 3, Kozlowski 0-5 0-0 0, Smith 3-6 1-2 7, Burke 0-0 0-0 0, Miller 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-64 9-14.

Iowa State (71) – Junod 1-5 1-2 4, O’Neil 1-7 11-12 13, Medders 4-9 5-5 14, Ronhovde 5-8 1-2 15, Kriener 1-1 3-6 5, Fox 4-11 0-0 12, Robinette 1-4 0-0 2, Paustian 0-0 0-0 0, Wilkins 3-4 0-0 6. Totals 20-49 21-27.

Halftime – Miami (Ohio) 31, Iowa State 29. Three-point goals – Miami (Ohio) 4-20 (Jackson 2-5, Motto 1-6, Merrill 0-3, Day 0-2, Beck 1-1, Kozlowski 0-3), Iowa State 10-26 (Junod 1-3, O’Neil 0-3, Medders 1-3, Ronhovde 4-7, Fox 4-10). Rebounds – Miami (Ohio) 37 (Day 9), Iowa State 38 (Kriener 11). Assists – Miami (Ohio) 12 (Motto 4), Iowa State 16 (Medders 5). Turnovers – Miami (Ohio) 16, Iowa State 18. Fouls – Miami (Ohio) 18, Iowa State 16. A – 4,478.