The Cyclone women’s basketball team moved to 3-0 on the season with another impressive win, this time 79-60 over Missouri Valley Conference opponent, Creighton.

“This was very much a team effort,” head coach Bill Fennelly said of his pre-Thanksgiving win, adding that “the turkey will taste better, that’s for sure.”

Iowa State was missing some of its big guns in the first half but stuck with the Bluejays and entered the halftime break tied at 40.

Stacy Frese, still nursing a high ankle sprain, sat out the entire first half and was joined on the bench by starters Megan Taylor and Tracy Gahan after the pair each picked up two fouls early in the game.

The Cyclone post players wisely avoided foul trouble, and their reserves stepped in and provided some strong minutes against the scrappy Creighton team.

In a half that featured six lead changes and late Bluejay leads of as much as five points, point guard Erica Haugen kept the Cyclones afloat with her consistent heads-up play and ability to break the constant Creighton press.

Haugen finished the game with only three points but managed three steals and eight assists with only one turnover.

“Erica played a very good game tonight,” Fennelly said of his reserve point guard.

Desir‚e Francis and Angie Welle provided the early Cyclone offense, picking up 14 and eight points, respectively, in the first half.

Welle, whose sister was the Bluejays’ leading scorer the past three seasons, dominated Creighton on the boards all night, picking up eight first half rebounds and finishing the game with 14.

The Cyclones scored seven unanswered points, all on free throws, in a span of 80 seconds at the end of the half to go up 40-38, but Creighton hit a jumper to even the score at the break.

“Even though we were tied at the half, I didn’t think we played outstanding,” Creighton coach Connie Yori said after the game. “They just turned it up in the second half and we didn’t.”

With team leaders Taylor and Gahan back in the lineup in the second half, Iowa State really came alive, stifling the Creighton offense and maintaining their own effective scoring.

“In the second half, defense was the key to our game,” Fennelly said. “We stopped dribble penetration and kept them from kicking it out for perimeter shots.

“Des, Kelly, Erica and some other kids helped us fight through it in the first half, and we got to their shooters better in the second half. They didn’t get any good looks at the basket and we rebounded well.”

The Cyclone “D” held the Bluejays to .276 shooting in the second half and forced 14 turnovers.

Francis managed four steals in addition to dropping in 13 second-half points to lead all scorers with a game total of 27.

In addition to her 14 rebounds, Welle completed the game with 19 points and three blocked shots, all early career-highs for the freshman in her first double-double.

The Cyclones capitalized on early Bluejay foul trouble in the second half and built their lead consistently, moving to double-digits before five minutes had expired.

“The game was called tight, and that’s not necessarily to our advantage,” Yori said. “We’re not as effective when the game slows down and there are a lot of fouls and timeouts.”

Frese entered the game early in the second half to roaring applause after the Haugen-led offense had created a sizable cushion.

Frese finished the game for the Cyclones, building the lead to as much as 23. She hit her only three-point shot of the game, but left most of the scoring in the hands of the hot-shooting Francis and Welle.

After the game, Francis pointed to the loss of the three Cyclone starters as inspiration for herself and her teammates.

“The players we depend on got into trouble early, and it was time for the rest of us to step up and prove ourselves,” Francis said.

Taylor finished the game with 15 points and three steals, and Gahan ended with eight points and a pair of blocks.

Junior starter Monica Huelman managed four points to go with a steal, an assist and a pair of blocks.

Freshman Sara Cizek, the younger sister of Cyclone forward Kelly Cizek, led the Bluejay offense most of the game, tallying nine points in just 16 minutes of play.

The Cyclones face Northern Illinois on Tuesday night at Hilton Coliseum.