Welcome to the Cyclone State, Part Two.

The Iowa State women’s team came into Carver-Hawkeye Arena with something to prove.

They left having proven all they wanted to and a whole lot more.

ISU beat the Hawkeyes by a score of 81-65 to improve to a perfect 2-0 on the year and gain their second victory is as many years over the hated cross-state rivals.

This victory marked the first time the Iowa State women have beaten the Hawkeyes at Carver-Hawkeye Arena since 1978.

The Cyclones were led by Megan Taylor, who finished with a game-high 25 points and 14 rebounds.

The game was played in front of a crowd of 5,169, many of whom made the trip from Ames to help make a little Hilton Magic two hours east.

“I want to thank our fans for coming out and making the trip. I think I had half of Davenport out there for me, and it was great,” coach Bill Fennelly said.

The contest was all ISU from the opening tip, as they jumped out to early leads of 8-2 and 16-4 behind Taylor, who had 10 points less than nine minutes into the affair.

“I came out and was really feeling it in the first half. We were all pumped up. I mean, it’s Iowa State-Iowa. You have to be pumped,” Taylor said.

A critical play in the first half occurred with 5:22 left to play. Team and floor leader Stacy Frese went down with a twisted ankle that left her writhing in pain on the floor of Carver-Hawkeye.

“I don’t really know what happened. I went in and got hit, and got hit pretty good,” Frese said.

At that point, ISU held a 31-22 lead on a team that only last weekend had made a strong comeback against a solid Washington team on the road.

Instead of wilting with the absence of their acknowledged leader, the Cyclones rose up behind sensational sophomore Taylor and finished the half on a 15-6 run to lead 46-28 at the break.

“I was real surprised they didn’t come out and press us when Stacy went down because we were preparing for it at every timeout,” Fennelly said.

As a team, ISU shot 58 percent while holding Iowa to 39 percent shooting.

At the break, Taylor’s 20 points and five rebounds were a good indication of her complete dominance of the half.

“I think Taylor was absolutely incredible, just a phenomenal basketball player and a competitor like no other,” Fennelly said.

“I told her when Stacy went down that I hoped she was strong because she was going to have a lot of people on her back, and she responded tremendously,” he said.

Also having a solid half was Tracy Gahan, who finished with ten points, four rebounds, a steal and a block.

The second half started with Frese back in the lineup and on a roll.

The game was never in doubt as the smallest lead the ‘Clones had was 16, occurring when the Hawks scored the first and last baskets of the second half.

Although ISU cooled down a bit as a team, there were a few players who stepped up their game.

Freshman Angie Welle and junior Desiree Francis, both playing in their first big Division 1 game, had seven and 13 points respectively in the second half.

“I wasn’t happy with the way I played in the first half, and so I said the second half was mine,” Francis, who finished with 15 points, five rebounds, three steals and a block, said.

“Des’ stepped it really well in the second half. She wasn’t happy with the way she played and came out determined to play better, and she did,” Taylor said.

Welle, meanwhile, competed hard with Amy Herrig, Iowa’s All-Big 10 center.

“Angie was playing awesome against such a tough player as Herrig. She really stepped it up,” Taylor said.

Welle ended the game with nine points and six rebounds.

Frese gutted out the second half with an ankle injury that limited her abilities.

“This was such a big game that I didn’t even think about the pain,” Frese said.

“It was really emotional to come back here and play, and it really helped that my teammates, especially Megan, told me that they were going to win it for me,” Frese, who was fighting back tears through much of the interview, said.

The Cyclone women, ranked No. 21 in the latest poll, took their first big step toward becoming a good team.

They will face many more challenges, but if they are met with the vigor and enthusiasm that this one was, it’s going to be a truly great year for Iowa State women’s basketball.