When pursuing a conference title, victories on the road are often the key. The Iowa State women went to College Station and Boulder last week and returned with two wins to give them confidence away from the magic and two more wins for their Big 12 record.

“It is always hard to win at Colorado and we’ve never been to Texas A&M, so it was a tough road trip,” Jayme Olson said. “We only spent 12 hours in Ames between Colorado and Texas, so coming away with two victories is huge.”

The 68-58 victory upped the Cyclones’ spotless conference record to 4-0 and puts them 15-2 overall.

“Going on the road and winning gives our kids a lot of confidence,” Coach Bill Fennelly said. “Any road win is important. Last year, we had four road wins and that was a huge factor in being selected to the NCAA tournament.”

ISU jumped out to an early lead against the Aggies, leading Texas A&M 32-18 at halftime before finishing the 68-52 win. The Cyclones held Texas A&M to just seven buckets of 28 attempts from the field and 0 of 7 from three-point range for a paltry 25 percent, while ISU shot nearly 50 percent from the floor.

“Our kids really look inside to both Janel (Grimm) and Jayme,” Fennelly said. “Jayme was able to score both inside and outside. She hit some critical threes and was able to get some putbacks that gave our team a tremendous lift.”

Olson exploded for a season high 26 points on 10 for 16 shooting, including 3-4 from three-point range. She also grabbed 12 rebounds, four of them offensive.

Inside power Janel Grimm was forced to spend much of the night on the bench due to foul trouble, forcing others to step up as scoring threats.

“It hurts because (Janel) is one of our main scorers,” Olson said. “I happened to be having a good night, and our guards did a good job of getting me the ball.”

Megan Taylor had 13 points, seven boards, five assists, and two blocks, while Stacy Frese picked up 12 points and eight assists, a team-high.

Tonight the Cyclones return to their home territory to battle No. 5 Texas Tech for the top spot in the league.

“We are looking at it as a great opportunity, playing the top team at home,” Grimm said. “We just want to go out there and play hard and see how the ball bounces. Winning a couple road games puts us in a great situation, but now we have to protect our home court.”

Texas Tech’s main gunner is All-American Alicia Thompson. She is averaging over 20 points per game and is also a candidate for the Naismith Award.

“She can do it all,” Olson said. “She scores inside, she can shoot from the outside, rebounds, passes well — you name it, she can do it. We’ll stay in our zone, but we must be aware of where she is at all times. They also have people to compliment her, and that combination is probably why they’re No. 5 in the nation.”

Fennelly said, “We’re not trying to put too much pressure on this one game. Our approach will be the same, because this is so early in the Big 12 schedule.

“They are by far the best team we’ve played since I’ve been here,” he added. “We have to play to a level that we’ve showed signs of this year.”