Iowa State shook off a sluggish start by getting the

ball to Angie Welle and scoring in transition in the

second half to defeat Kansas 77-59 Saturday in Hilton

Coliseum.

Winless in the Big 12 at 0-14 coming in, the Jayhawks

gave the thirteenth-ranked Cyclones all they could

handle until Iowa State went on a 22-6 run to

finishout the game.

The Cyclones started out slow and were limited by 13

first-half turnovers, leading at the break 29-28.

“We just started out slow once again. Turnovers hurt

us in the first half,” said Welle, who finished with

21 points. “We had 13 at half time. We had that many

in a half and that’s our goalfor a game.”

Kansas continued to stay close at the beginning of

the second half and tied the game at 38-38 when Blair

Waltz scored two of her team-high 19 points with 12:42

on the clock.

Mary Fox answered with a three-point basket on the

next possession to give Iowa State the lead that they

would never relinquish.

The Jayhawks got within two points at 55-53 at the

6:36 mark, but would get no closer as the Cyclones

turned up the game’s pace and finished strong with the

22-6 run.

In the closing run, Iowa State scored 10 straight

points with a Mary Cofield three-pointer, a basket

from Lindsey Wilson, two Welle free throws and another

Cofield shot from behind the arc.

“I think we defended pretty well and we got stuff in

the open court,” ISU head coach Bill Fennelly said of

his team’s play in the second half.

“When we get stuff in the open court, we’re a

lot better. I thought Lindsey made some good decisions

kicking the ball.”

Fennelly thought the end of the game was more

indicative of how the Cyclones need to play to win.

“I thought in the last 15 minutes we played

with a lot more maturity, a lot more sense of

understanding how Iowa State is supposed to play to

win games,” he said.

The Cyclones shot 45 percent (24-53) from the

field and 41 percent (10-24) from the three-point

line.

Defensively, Iowa State held Kansas to 40 percent from

the field (24-60) and 46 percent (6-13) three-point

shooting.

It was the foul line where the Cyclones had a

decisive advantage. Iowa State cashed in at the

charity strip at a 90 percent clip (19-21), while

Kansas was only 5-9 (55 percent).

Welle did the most damage, hitting nine

out of 10 free throws for the game and 7 of 8 in the

second half.

Three other Cyclones joined Welle in double figure

scoring. Wilson had 16 points and 8 assists. Cofield

and Gahan eachadded 11 points.

The All-American Welle, who also had 11 rebounds,

turned up her play in the second half and went over

2,000 career points.

“In the second half, Welle got a lot more

looks, unfortunately, and we weren’t able to cover her

up quite as well,” Kansas head coach Marian Washington

said.

Fennelly knows how important Welle is to the

team’s success and knows they have to continue to get

her theball down low.

“She’s a great player. She’s scored over 2,000

points. She dictates how the game is played for us. We

have to do a better job of getting her the ball and

moreshots,” he said.

Iowa State improved to 21-6 overall and 9-6 in

the conference. The Jayhawks dropped to 0-15 in Big

12play and 5-23 overall.

But it wasn’t easy, as Fennelly pointed out.

“It’s always hard to play in games that you

are

supposed to win at this level. You don’t play in those

games very often,” Fennelly said. “You have to give

Kansas credit. We always get their best shot. They

played very hard. It took us obviously a while to get

going. We really played well the last 15 minutes and

found a way to win the game.”

Another sluggish start will not bode will for

the Cyclones Wednesday as they host No. 9 Baylor.

“It hard for us with all the turnovers that we

did have to get into an offensive rhythm. We never

really got things going in the first half. Anytime you

turn over the ball that much it limits you,” Gahan

said. “Until we stop doing that we’re going to keep

struggling like this. Once we start taking care of the

ball and start being more focused on defense we’llpull

it all together.”

The Bears stand 10-4 in the conference and

22-4 overall.

“We’re going to have to play maybe better than

we’re capable of playing on Wednesday,” Fennelly said.

(Baylor’s) a team that may be playing as well as

anybody in our league, they and Oklahoma. We’re going

to have to find another gear for that game.”