The Northwestern basketball team had three speeds on Tuesday night at Hilton Coliseum: Slow, slower, and slowest.

And after 22 minutes of lulling the Cyclones to sleep, the heavily undermanned Wildcats found themselves down only seven points.

After Tracy Gahan got a put-back basket, Erica Haugen put in a momentum-changing three-pointer from the corner, and ISU was off on a 14-0 run that put the game out of reach.

“I thought the slow pace kind of shocked us at the start. We didn’t know how to react, and that’s why we struggled early,” Haugen said.

Junior center Gintare Cipinyte did not mince words when discussing the game plan of the Wildcats.

“It wasn’t basketball. I don’t know what that was,” Cipinyte said.

The Cyclones, despite getting off to an 18-6 lead, scored only 26 points to lead by nine after the first half.

“I wasn’t happy with anybody the first half,” coach Bill Fennelly said. “We really couldn’t get any flow, so I told them that we needed to chase the ball around a little more and create some tempo.”

The Wildcats, who committed 14 turnovers in each half, knew that they were outmanned, and Northwestern coach June Olkowski said as much while sounding like an Army general.

“We didn’t have as much ammunition as Iowa State. So we tried to be selective when using our ammunition. But in the end, they just had too many athletes, and they were the better team. They are very, very good,” Olkowski said.

The game also included a surprise addition to the Cyclone lineup. About halfway through the first half, freshman Holly Bordewyk checked into the game.

Earlier in the year, Fennelly announced that the 6-1 forward from South Dakota would redshirt. However, with injuries and other factors coming into play, Bordewyk was thrown into the fray.

“We just feel that she gives us some depth at certain positions. We are playing Megan [Taylor] at the four [power forward], so we need some more people that can play three [small forward],” Fennelly said.

It didn’t take a lot of convincing to have Bordewyk agree to play.

“I was excited. He told me on Saturday to get ready to play, and I didn’t ask any questions,” Bordewyk said.

Fennelly said it was a game-time decision as to weather she would see action tonight.

“I really made the decision during the game. I thought that we needed more rebounding, and she’ll help there, and overall we just wanted to put our best players on the floor when we can,” Fennelly said.

Although she did not score any points, she did have two rebounds and two steals in 18 quality minutes.

Another player who had a good performance was Cipinyte, who has been uneven so far this year.

The 6-5 junior college transfer from Lithuania showed a lot more confidence while collecting ten points, and going 5-7 from the field.

“I think this game will help me a lot. It’s what I needed. Every game it gets easier, and I get more comfortable with playing,” Cipinyte said.

Fennelly was pleased with the play of his post player.

“I thought she played really well in the second half. She was a little tentative in the first half, but she came out and really wanted the ball. I was encouraged by her play,” Fennelly said.

Despite the 35-point win, Haugen said there are plenty of things the team needs to work on.

“We need to improve on a lot of things. We need to get better offensively and better defensively. Better everything really,” Haugen said.

The Cyclones will have the next four days off before they face off against Western Illinois on Saturday afternoon at Hilton Coliseum.