It wasn’t exactly Hilton Coliseum South for the Cyclones Tuesday night, but they didn’t need seem to need any of the hometown “Magic” to topple the Oklahoma State Cowgirls, 76-64.

In fact, according to ISU head coach Bill Fennelly, the Cyclones didn’t even need to play a great game to post the lopsided win.

“This wasn’t the best game we’ve played all year,” Fennelly said. “I wouldn’t necessarily say we even played a good game, but we played a really hard game and did the things we needed to do to win.”

The Cyclones overcame a number of early mental errors to post a nine-point halftime lead which they would expand to as much as 22 in the second half.

“We had 17 turnovers and we got off to kind of a sloppy start,” Fennelly said, “but we really broke the game open with some threes and some transition baskets.”

Iowa State traded shots with the Cowgirls for most of the first half and were knotted at 29 with just over five minutes to play.

Second-chance points and transition buckets, however, opened the door for a 9-0 run to finish the half and propel the Cyclones to the easy win.

“We just showed the kind of spurt that you come to expect from this team,” Fennelly said.

Leading that “spurt” was talented forward Megan Taylor who finished the game with 15 points and 15 rebounds. The athletic junior was all over the offensive glass, particularly in the second half, posting six offensive boards as the Cyclones extended their lead into the range of the truly comfortable.

“A lot of those balls were really team rebounds,” Taylor said. “They tend to get tipped around a lot and just end up in my hands. A lot of them just came right to me.”

Sophomore Tracy Gahan also emerged, scoring 14 points and picking up a half dozen rebounds. Where Taylor seemed to dominate the second half, Gahan kept the Cyclones competitive in the opening frame, scoring 10 of her points, including a pair of three-pointers on just two attempts.

In addition to recent statistical improvements, the second-year starter has also been instrumental in relieving point guard Stacy Frese of the constant physical pressure she’s endured so far in Big 12 play.

“We’ve all learned to help Stacy bring the ball up the floor,” Gahan said, “because we know they’ll pressure her for 40 minutes every day.”

Facing some of her most physical competition of the year, sophomore center Angie Welle still proved dominant in the post, scoring 17 points to go with eight boards.

“They did a good job of swarming to the ball,” Fennelly said. “They were the first team to really play Angie hard and force her to make some tough decisions underneath.”

True to form, Frese managed six assists and 14 points in the contest, including four treys. The diverse Cyclone offense featured eight players with substantial playing time, all of whom scored at least two points.

“This was a real important game for our team,” Fennelly said. “It was a quality road win against a team that was undefeated at home before this game. A road win against a Southern Division team is almost like winning two games.”

While Fennelly wasn’t always inspired by the quality of his team’s play, he couldn’t have been happier with the intensity, or the outcome.

“We preach to them, ‘Find a way,'” he said, “and tonight they did. They worked hard and found a way to win.”

The Cyclones return to action Sunday when they step out of Big 12 play for an afternoon to take on the North Carolina Tar Heels at Hilton Coliseum. Tip-off is scheduled for noon.

Portions of this article contributed by the Cyclone Radio Network.