The Liberty Flames gave the Cyclones the open three-pointer. And from then on, the Cyclones shot three after three after three.

The Cyclones attempted a school record 44 treys Saturday, making 17, one shy of another school record as they blew out the Flames 93-72.

Freshman Erica Junod blazed the way for Iowa State, hitting a career-high seven three-pointers in eight attempts.

She capped off a career-game with 23 points and six assists.

“After I made my first shot, that was fine,” Junod said, “but then I made another one and I was like ‘whoa, there’s something going on.'”

Megan Taylor recorded her second double-double in three games with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Erica Haugen added 12 points to the Cyclone victory.

But the real story was the team’s shooting from beyond the arc.

The Cyclones shot more three-pointers than two-point field goals. Iowa State was 17-44 from beyond the arc, a rate of 38 percent. Inside the arc they shot 13-26.

The Flames played a zone defense with their focus on stopping preseason Big 12 Player of the Year Angie Welle. The Flames’ pressure on Welle gave the rest of the ISU squad chances at open shots.

“It was the first game really where I thought the other team committed to not letting Angie get the ball a lot,” said ISU head coach Bill Fennelly.

Liberty head coach Carey Green said that he hoped his taller players would be able to contain Welle and that the Cyclones wouldn’t shoot as well as they did.

“We knew they had good shooters,” Green said. “but there was a hope and a wish they would have a poor shooting night.”

“I was surprised they played that much [zone],” Fennelly said.

With the win, the Cyclones also clinched the 2000 Pella Cyclone Classic title. Welle was named MVP of the tournament, while Cyclones Tracy Gahan, Taylor and Junod were named to the all-tournament team.

Liberty’s Michelle Fricke was named to the team as well. She scored 21 points against Iowa State.

The Cyclones will now get a break from basketball and will be able to focus on finals week.

Iowa State has played three games in the last four days and are unbeaten so far at 7-0.

“They’ve probably had enough basketball for a while,” Fennelly said.

Iowa State will resume action Sunday, Dec. 17 against San Francisco at Hilton Coliseum.