After a 30-point win over then – No. 24 Drake, the ISU women’s basketball team hoped to stay on a roll Saturday when it traveled to Northwestern.

And it almost looked like it would, but the No. 5 Cyclones had to hang on for a 71-61 win over the Wildcats.

“It was kind of a surprise, because we came out on fire,” senior guard Tracy Gahan said. “All of a sudden, it just came to an end.”

Iowa State jumped out to a 13-2 lead, but went on a seven-minute drought, only scoring four points.

“It was a struggle,” ISU head coach Bill Fennelly said. “We couldn’t knock them out. We didn’t trail, but we didn’t feel comfortable either.”

Senior center Angie Welle, who tied for a team-high 23 points, agreed.

“We didn’t play real well,” she said. “We got the win, which was good. You never want to take a road win for granted.”

Turnovers – 24 of them – hurt the Cyclones’ chances of pulling away.

“There were more turnovers that I think were preventable,” Fennelly said, noting that there were double-dribble calls and traveling when Cyclone players weren’t being pressured.

“We went down the court five or six times without getting a shot off because we would turn the ball over,” Gahan explained.

It didn’t help that Gahan, one of the Cyclones’ `Big Three’ players, was in foul trouble and limited to only 25 minutes of action. She scored a season-low five points.

“With Tracy out of the game we’re hurting bad,” Fennelly said. “She does a little bit of everything for us, maybe more than anyone else on the team.”

Still, the other two, Welle and junior point guard Lindsey Wilson, stepped in and helped Iowa State up its record to 6-0.

Wilson netted 23 points and handed out 10 assists. She also made six crucial free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

“It showed how productive Lindsey and Angie can be,” Gahan said.

Northwestern also had some production, from freshmen Sarah Kwasinski and Suzanne Morrison.

Kwasinski finished with 26 points and 10 boards. Morrison added 14 points and nine rebounds.

Young players for Iowa State also stepped up to help avoid an upset.

“Mary Fox was a spark for us off the bench,” Gahan said. “It’s hard coming in as a freshman.”

Fox played a solid 25 minutes, picking up the team in the absence of Gahan, and scored six points and only turned the ball over once.

“It’s hard to get up for every game,” Welle said.

It didn’t help the Cyclones that a mere 735 people showed up to watch the game.

That’s a big difference from the 7,782 average for Iowa State’s two home games.

“When there’s such a small crowd like that you have to create your own enthusiasm,” Welle said. “We didn’t do a good job of that. We’ve been keeping games too close for comfort.”

Enthusiasm won’t be hard to come by for the Cyclones’ next opponent, intrastate rival Iowa (5-2).

Gahan admitted that after a big win over Drake and with Iowa on the horizon, Iowa State may have been looking past Northwestern (2-7).

“That was one of the things coach Fennelly was worried about,” Gahan said. “No matter what team you play you can’t overlook anybody.”

The Hawkeyes will be in Ames Wednesday with the game starting at 7 p.m.

boxscore

Iowa St. 71, Northwestern 61

Iowa St. (6-0)

Cizek 1-3 2-4 4, Cofield 2-8 2-2 7, Welle 11-16 1-4 23, Wilson 7-13 6-6 23, Gahan 2-6 0-2 5, Fox 2-2 0-0 6, Bordewyk 0-0 0-0 0, Homeyer 0-0 1-2 1, Paustian 1-2 0-0 2, Kreiner 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-50 12-20 71

Northwestern (2-7)

Morrison 7-14, 0-0 14, Zylstra 0-2 0-0 0, Kwasinski 12-22 2-3 26, Walker 0-4 0-0 0, Culver 3-10 0-0 6, McComb 0-2 0-0 0, McCarthy 1-6 0-0 2, Will 5-9 0-2 13, Messenger 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-69 2-5 61.

Halftime-Iowa St. 37, Northwestern 23. 3-Point goals-Iowa St. 7-14 (Cofield 1-5, Wilson 3-4, Gahan 1-2, Fox 2-2, Paustian 0-1), Northwestern 3-11 (Walker 0-1, Culver 0-4, McComb 0-1, Will 3-5). Fouled Out- Morrison. Rebounds-Iowa St. 35 (Welle 8), Northwestern 35 (Kwasinski 10). Assists-(Iowa St. 21 (Wilson 10), Northwestern 25 (Culver 9). Total fouls-Iowa St. 9, Northwestern 20. A-735.