After taking a 24-point halftime lead, the Iowa State women’s basketball team had to fight off a hungry Oklahoma State team in the second half en route to its fourth Big 12 win, 79-55.

Lisa Kriener proved to be too much for the Cowgirls, dominating down low and tying a career-high with 27 points while also pulling down 13 rebounds.

“Kriener played an exceptional game, that was all her,” guard Lindsey Wilson said.

“I think when she starts out playing well, she starts demanding the ball more and works really hard to get good position.”

Kriener was coming off a night when she made just two of 10 baskets in a double-overtime loss at Baylor. She said she wanted to come out and get off to a good start.

“She was awesome, she really did a great job,” Oklahoma State head coach Julie Goodenough said.

“She was really putting on a clinic down there.”

But the win didn’t come easy for Iowa State, as Oklahoma State opened up the second half with a 23-3 run over the first six minutes, bringing the score within four of Iowa State.

“I think we made just a series of mental mistakes and we were rushing a little on offense and I tried to do it all myself for a three-minute stretch,” Wilson said of the Cowgirl run.

“We were all just kind of running around with our heads cut off almost until we snapped out and realized there was a ball game going on.”

The Cyclones responded with big baskets from Wilson, who ended up with 19 points despite eight turnovers, and Kriener, who sank 10 of 12 free throws and made eight of 12 from the field.

“She did awesome for us rebounding and she was intense the whole game,” guard Anne O’Neil said about Kriener. “That’s something we all had to feed off a little bit when we weren’t doing as well as a team. She stepped up when we needed her to.”

Iowa State, which moved to 9-10 and 4-4 in the Big 12, held Oklahoma State to just 21 percent shooting in the first half, but had a much harder time defending in the second half as the Cowgirls shot just under 52 percent in the second half.

“You have to give Oklahoma State a lot of credit, they’re down 24 on the road, they’re struggling to win and then they come after us,” head coach Bill Fennelly said.

“But nobody makes up that many points without the other team helping them.”

Trisha Skibbe led Oklahoma State, which drops to 5-14 and 1-7 in the Big 12, with 14 points and eight rebounds, but was often times the victim of Kriener’s success in the post.

“I think we focused more on their outside shooting than their inside shooting,” Skibbe said.

Shelby Hutchens added 13 for the Cowgirls and Meghan Craig finished with 9, including key three-point baskets during the second half run.

“It seemed like they were just fast-breaking and we couldn’t get back,” Kriener said about early in the second half.

“We weren’t playing like we’re capable of playing, everybody was panicking and trying to do it all themselves.”

Anne O’Neil, who was the Big 12 rookie of the week for last week, pitched in 13 points for the Cyclones and Erica Junod threw in seven points off the bench.

“We played great in the first half and great the last 10 minutes and as bad as we could play the first 10 minutes of the second half,” Fennelly said.

The Cyclones hit the road this weekend to battle Texas Tech, who sits atop the Big 12.