The ISU women’s basketball team started its season Nov. 22 not only on the road, but at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.Preseason All-American Angie Welle and forward Tracy Gahan filled the void that graduated seniors Desiree Francis and Stacy Frese left.The Cyclones beat the Hawkeyes 86-76.Welle scored a game-high 27 points and secured a game-high 15 rebounds. She was 12-13 from the field while her lone blemish came on a three-pointer.Gahan scored a career-high 26 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. Point guard Lindsey Wilson was the only other Cyclone to score in double-digits, ending with 10.One week later and the second win of the season under their belts (the Cyclones defeated Eastern Illinois 84-46), the Creighton Bluejays and Iowa-native Angela Timmons came to Hilton Coliseum.Timmons, who scored 15 of her 23 points in the second half, had a chance to tie the game at 74 with a three-pointer as the final horn sounded, but the ball bounced high off the rim, bounced again and then fell harmlessly to the floor.Timmons lay on her back at mid-court crying into her hands as the Cyclones ran-off with a 74-71 win.A day before New Year’s Eve, the only thing that stood between a 10-0 record and Iowa State were the Duke Blue Devils and its No. 6 ranking.Duke’s Alana Beard scored a game-high 27 points as the Blue Devils won on their home-court 81-63.Iowa State was within a point with 12:20 left at 51-50. But over the next 2:02, Duke went on a 20-6 run that put the game out of reach.The new year brought conference play and the 19th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners to Norman Jan. 6.The Sooners went on a 20-0 run that ended with a three-pointer by Sunny Hardernan with 1:32 left in the game and gave Oklahoma a 79-77 lead. It was the first time in the second half the Sooners had done so.With the game tied at 79, ISU forward Megan Taylor shot a jumper at the buzzer. It fell and so did Oklahoma’s hopes of an upset.Jan. 17, Missouri came to Hilton looking for an upset.The Tigers ran off 13 straight points late in the second half, the last three coming on a three-pointer from Natalie Bright with 42.7 seconds left in regulation.The Cyclones regained the lead when Wilson drove the lane and dished a pass to Gahan for the layup.Amanda Lassiter, who finished with a team-high 21 points for Missouri, threw an airball on a three-pointer when the Tigers tried to counter. Gahan and Welle would each add a free throw.The Cyclones would win, 68-67, and improve to 14-1 overall and 5-0 in the Big 12.A week later the Cyclones traveled to Baylor University.Danielle Crockrom was waiting. The Lady Bear scored a game-high 25 points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds as Baylor handed Iowa State its first conference loss 79-74.Feb. 14 at Colorado was the first of a two-game road trip for the Cyclones.The Buffaloes’ Jenny Roulier and Mandy Nightingale scored 20 and 17 respectively as No. 19 Colorado upset sixth-ranked Iowa State 73-66.Iowa State had won its previous five games by an average of 25 points, but trailed in this game for the final 38 minutes.Iowa State took its 20-3 overall and 10-2 Big 12 record to Lawrence, Kansas three days later to play the Jayhawks.

Welle ended the game a rebound shy of a double-double (20 points, nine rebounds), but it was not enough as Kansas won 69-61. The Jayhawks improved to 4-9 in the Big 12 while Iowa State fell to 10-3 in the conference.The Cyclones had a chance to finish second in the Big 12 behind Oklahoma on Feb. 28 when they traveled to Texas Tech to take on the Lady Raiders.Iowa State trailed 62-60 with 3:59 left in the contest before Tech’s Candi White made a three-pointer to give the Lady Raiders a 65-60 lead.From there, both offenses became inept as Texas Tech won the contest 68-60 at the free-throw line in the closing moments.Iowa State finished the regular season with a 22-5 overall and 12-4 Big 12 record.