Billy Joel once wrote that “life is a series of hellos and goodbyes.”

That certainly could be said of the Iowa State-Drake game on Saturday.

While the Cyclones were saying hello again to point guard Stacy Frese, the Bulldogs were saying an early goodbye to All-American center Tammi Blackstone.

The Cyclones came out with a 78-60 win over the Bulldogs, who entered the contest with a record of 3-3 that included a win over Iowa and a three-point loss to Nebraska.

Iowa State was buoyed by the return of floor leader Frese, who missed three and a half games with an ankle injury.

“It was great to have her back. She means so much to this team, and even though she got a little tired, I though she played a good game,” coach Bill Fennelly said.

Meanwhile, Blackstone, a 6-4 junior who came in averaging 16.7 points per game, picked up three fouls in a minute and a half to start the second half, and when she committed her fifth foul with 8:36 left in the game, she was able to log only two minutes in the second half.

Freshman Cyclone center Angie Welle was the one who incurred most of the damage against Blackstone.

“That was as aggressive as Angie Welle has been since she arrived on campus,” Fennelly said. “She obviously wasn’t intimidated at all and played great.”

Welle felt that the big challenge of guarding an All-American helped her play.

“I really got up for her,” Welle said. “You have to when you’re playing a person of her caliber.”

“Three fouls in a minute-and-a-half. That’s gotta be some kind of record, doesn’t it?” asked Drake coach Lisa Bluder with a smirk.

Frese, on the other hand, didn’t start the game but received a huge ovation from the crowd, which numbered a regular season all-time best 6,748, when she entered with 13:23 left in the first half.

“That was really great. I got goosebumps all over, and I just tried not to smile,” Frese said.

ISU shot out of the gate with a 10-3 lead four minutes into the contest.

The rest of the half was marked by sloppy play and poor outside shooting by both squads.

The Cyclones used a 5-0 run at the end of the half to take a 36-27 lead into intermission.

Desiree Francis and Megan Taylor, who had combined to average 41.5 points per game, had a total of nine points at halftime.

However, the supporting cast was able to compensate for the two big guns’ shooting just 4-for-12 from the field. Fine efforts by Angie Welle (nine points), Stacy Frese (six points) and Tracy Gahan (six points) paved the way.

The Bulldogs crept to within six points with 18:31 left to play, but ISU responded with a 9-0 run that gave them a comfortable 43-33 advantage.

Drake hung tough for a while, before ISU put the dagger through their heart with an 11-0 run that gave the Cyclones a 20-point lead with under eight minutes remaining.

The rest of the game was played to a standoff as Francis highlighted the play, picking up 11 of her 18 rebounds in the second half.

That total represented the third-highest in Cyclone history. She also turned up her offensive game and finished with 14 points, which gave her a fourth straight double-double.

“She obviously has a passion for rebounding and I love to see that,” Bluder said. “I wish I had some kids on my team that played with the intensity that she does.”

Taylor also stepped it up, finishing with 15 points. In all, Iowa State finished with five players in double figures, a season high.

Frese ended up playing 25 minutes in her return to action, scoring 11 points and dishing out three assists.

Erica Haugen celebrated the return of Frese with a solid all-around game, scoring seven points, dishing out four assists to go with only one turnover, stealing the ball three times, and even swatting away two shots.

While the Cyclones had a hard time finding their range (3-17 from behind the arc), it was nothing compared to the Bulldogs struggles.

They finished the game shooting only 32 percent from the field, including 6-for-22 from three-point range.

The ISU women will take the week off for finals before facing Northern Iowa on December 20 at the UNI-Dome.