The Iowa State women’s basketball team opened Big 12 Tournament play Tuesday night with a win over the Texas A&M Lady Aggies, 53-46.

The win may have qualified the Cyclones for the NCAA Tournament next week.

Iowa State picked up the win despite trailing most of the second half.

The Cyclones won the game on an 11-0 run led by senior guard Tara Gunderson. The victory is only the second time in school history that the women’s team has advanced past the first round of the conference tournament.

“It wasn’t a great game for anyone,” Fennelly told KASI Radio 1430 AM after the game. “We played 30 minutes trying not to lose rather than trying to win.”

The Cyclones last advanced past the first round during the 1990 Big Eight Tournament. They defeated the Colorado Buffaloes, 70-61.

The victory also gave ISU Head Coach Bill Fennelly his 200th career victory.

“I won my 100th game in the NCAA Tournament and my 200th game in the Big 12 Tournament,” Fennelly said.

Gunderson hit eight straight points including a pair of three-point goals to give the Cyclones a 50-46 lead near the end of the game.

Senior guard Julie Hand and junior forward Jayme Olson followed by hitting three-of-five from the free-throw stripe to seal the game.

Olson led the Cyclones in scoring. The junior threw in 22 points and added six rebounds and a team-high four assists.

Gunderson was second with 14 points and three assists.

The Cyclones found themselves off to a slow start. The team was held scoreless for about the first 5 minutes of the game. ISU’s freshman forward Monica Huelman opened with the team’s first five points.

“They were nervous,” Fennelly said.

After Huelman hit her first hoop and was fouled, the freshman stepped up to the charity stripe and sank the free throw to cut the lead in half.

Lady Aggies guard Amy Yates followed with a three-point basket to stretch the score to 9-3.

Huelman hit her second hoop at the other end to cut the lead to 9-5.

Junior forward Janel Grimm then stole the ball and junior forward Jayme Olson followed with a three-pointer to cut the lead to one point at 9-8 with 13:28 left in the half.

The Cyclones took their first lead at 10-9 when sophomore forward Quintina Sullivan hit a layup. The team began to pull away after a three-point shot by senior Tara Gunderson that gave the Cyclones a 13-9 lead. ISU stretched the lead to as many as 11 points at 25-14 after Olson was good from the field.

But it was far from over.

ISU had to stymie a 10-1 run by the Lady Aggies to hang onto a 26-24 lead at the break.

The Lady Aggies opened the second half by controlling the boards, limiting the Cyclones to one shot.

The Cyclones seemed to be lost on the offensive end as they could only muster perimeter shots.

The Lady Aggies were able to stretch their lead to four at 32-28. Olson then followed with a three-point basket, cutting the lead to 32-31.

Leading the Lady Aggies in scoring were Amy Yates and Melissa Rollerson with nine points each.

The Cyclones will be back in action in the second round against the Colorado Buffaloes tonight at 8:20 in Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City.

“We need the win tomorrow [to be in the NCAA Tournament],” Grimm said. “We will really be on the bubble if we don’t win tomorrow.”