The ISU women’s basketball players must have felt they needed a little drama in their lives.

The Cyclones had won their previous eight games by an average of 28 points. They had swept through the Big 12 tournament with ease.

But Sunday night in Hilton Coliseum, the Cyclones lived dangerously for most of the evening before pulling away for a 79-68 win over Illinois to propel them to the Sweet 16.

“I thought it was just a great women’s college basketball game. It was exactly how it should be in this situation. Illinois came out and played as hard as any team has played in here, and it was just a great game,” ISU coach Bill Fennelly said.

Iowa State was down 47-36 with 16:19 to play before embarking on a 16-4 run that was highlighted by three consecutive three-pointers by Desir‚e Francis, who finished with 18 points.

“I got a little down on myself after the first half, but coach Harris pulled me aside and told me to stay with it. Once I made the first one, I just started shooting it every time I touched it,” Francis said.

“There’s no question that was the turning point. For a while there, nobody was hitting and it was like ‘I don’t want it. You take it.’ Then when Des hit those the crowd really got into the game, and we all breathed a little easier,” Fennelly said.

The run certainly catapulted the Cyclones back into the game, but the Fighting Illini weren’t about to roll over.

Illinois eventually retook the lead and had a 61-60 advantage with 7:51 to play.

However, Stacy Frese nailed a three-pointer to make it 63-61, and the Cyclones never lost the lead from that point.

Lindsey Wilson again provided a burst of frenetic energy off the bench for Iowa State, scoring 13 points and hitting several key shots, including the one that put the game out of reach.

Up 71-64 with 2:32 left, Wilson loaded a shot from behind the arc. The shot fell through, the crowd of 13,478 was sent into a frenzy, and the Cyclones were sent to Kansas City for a date with Penn State in the regional semifinals.

“She’s fearless. She really doesn’t play like a freshman at all. She loves this, she loves the attention, she wants the ball in her hands. She’s been doing this her whole life; she’s not going to get nervous now,” Fennelly said.

The contest started out inauspiciously for the Cyclones, as they waited 5:14 to score their first basket of the night, spotting Illinois six points in the process.

And Iowa State never did get really on track in the first half, shooting 2-13 from the three-point line in falling behind 35-31 by intermission.

One thing the Cyclones did have working was the post play of Angie Welle. At one point scoring 9 of 11 points for Iowa State, Welle ended the first half with 13 points.

“We always just try to find the person who’s hot. In the first half, we tried to get it to Angie a lot, and when Des was hitting we gave it to her,” Frese said.

“We were a little nervous at the start of the game, and even in the first half. At half-time, I wasn’t screaming and hollering, I was just even joking with them to get them to loosen up,” Fennelly said.

Iowa State (27-5) hit 8-15 from behind the arc in the second half, with Francis going 4-6.

The Cyclones say staying with their game was the key to the win.

“We just stayed after it, and had confidence in each other, and believed in each other, and it worked out well,” Frese said.

“This team has won 26 games playing a certain way,” Fennelly said, “and you gotta believe you can win the 27th one playing the same way and if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen.”