ISU guard Erica Haugen celebrated her 21st birthday Saturday night by practicing the maxim “it’s better to give than to receive.”

Haugen doled out a season-high eight assists, and Stacy Frese drilled five of the Cyclones’ 11 three-point shots in an 82-64 romp over the beleaguered Colorado Buffaloes at Hilton Coliseum.

“It should be Erica Haugen’s birthday every day,” said ISU head coach Bill Fennelly. “Obviously Stacy made some big shots to get us going, but I think we had a lot of energy from the beginning.”

An announced crowd of 13,215, the second largest in team history, watched as the eighth-ranked Cyclones (17-3, 8-1 Big 12) dismantled Colorado’s frenetic pressure defense with crisp, precise passing and deadly accurate perimeter shooting.

It was the Cyclones’ sixth-straight triumph over the Buffaloes (6-14, 1-8 Big 12), who suffered their fifth consecutive loss and 10th in their last 11 games.

“You don’t know how you’re going to approach this game and, again, we had a phenomenal crowd,” Fennelly said. “I just told them right before we went out there that we owe these people, compared to how we played against K-State [which ISU won, 64-61 on Jan. 25].”

The Cyclones delivered by shooting 50.7 percent from the field, including 11 for 26 from three-point range. Iowa State torched Colorado for 12 three-pointers Jan. 8 at Boulder.

“I wonder if they shoot this well against everybody else,” Colorado head coach Ceal Barry said. “Obviously, our defense isn’t very good.”

While the Buffaloes focused on stopping the ball, the Cyclones swirled around the three-point arc, spotting up to launch again and again.

“If you drive, so many of them collapse on you, somebody has to be open,” Frese said. “If you look for the skip pass, you should be wide open.”

Colorado’s lack of depth — in marked contrast to Iowa State — further compounded their miseries. Just seven Buffaloes saw action, with three logging 36 minutes each.

“That’s another reason we give up so many points,” Barry said. “When you can’t rest your starters or your second team, you can’t instruct them, you can’t settle them down.”

Still, when not yielding wide-open looks, Colorado tenaciously scrapped for loose balls all evening, forcing Iowa State to commit 20 turnovers.

Fennelly said some of the turnovers were partly due to “probably subbing too liberally” in the second half, and many occurred when the game’s outcome was no longer in question.

“Twenty turnovers, yeah, that’s too many,” Fennelly said. “But I think when you get a big lead you’re not as conscious about valuing the ball.”

Angie Welle recorded her seventh double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Frese led all scorers with 21 points, followed by Megan Taylor with 15 and Desir‚e Francis with nine.

Iowa State dominated the interior, outscoring the Buffs 34-26 in the paint and finishing with a robust 42-29 rebounding advantage. Taylor grabbed four of ISU’s 15 offensive boards.

“That’s one thing that coach Fennelly really stresses, to go in and get the rebound,” Taylor said. “He’s instilled it in our heads so much we just go do it.”

Through the first 12 minutes, Colorado competed, trailing just 20-15. The Cyclones then struck with a 21-2 scoring onslaught, fueled by a pair of Frese three-pointers, and raced to a 45-25 advantage at the break — their largest half-time lead in Big 12 play.

Following a 13-4 second half run, ISU’s lead swelled to 75-47 with 7:17 left to play. The victory assured, Fennelly rested the starters for the duration of the game.

“Hopefully, they didn’t use too much energy, because we’re going to need all we can get on Tuesday night,” Fennelly said.

Tuesday night, Big 12-leading Oklahoma struts into Hilton Coliseum with a perfect conference record, a No. 22 national ranking and a hunger to prove itself among the nation’s elite. An Iowa State win would knot the two teams atop the Big 12 at 9-1, and the Cyclones are taking nothing for granted.

“Our goal this season is to win a Big 12 championship,” Frese said. “Obviously, if we want to do it, we’re going to need to go through them first.

The Cyclones, protected by the aura of “Hilton Magic,” should be the favorites, but don’t tell them that.

“You’ve just got to go by their record and our record,” Welle said. “By what it says, we’re the underdog.”