The Iowa State women’s basketball team just couldn’t pull it off against the 12th-ranked Kansas Jayhawks team in Lawrence, Kan. Saturday evening. The game was the second of three straight road games for the Cyclones.

Despite a 26-point effort by junior forward Jayme Olson, the Cyclones, now 11-9 and 4-6 in the Big 12, fell 82-78 to the balanced scoring attack of the Jayhawks (17-4, 8-2).

The Kansas victory stops a two game winning streak for the team.

The Cyclones were able to stay competitive throughout the game by hitting 51 percent from the field (26 of 51) including 64 percent (14 of 22) in the first half. For the game, Iowa State hit 10 of 21 from behind the three-point arc in the game.

Despite the loss, Iowa State Women’s Head Basketball Coach Bill Fennelly was pleased with the play of the team.

“We played very hard,” Fennelly said. “We took a top-10 caliber team and we took a shot with eight seconds remaining to tie the game. We just played very, very hard.”

Six of the 10 Iowa State players to see action, score at least six points in in the game.

Olson not only led the team in scoring, but also in rebounding, as she pulled down a team-high six rebounds. The junior forward was perfect from the free-throw line by hitting all seven of her attempts.

“Jayme was outstanding,” Fennelly said. “You want your best player to pick it up at the end (of the season). She played 40 minutes of very physical basketball.”

The junior continues to hit from behind the three-point arc, hitting three of five, while hitting eight of 15 from the field overall.

“In the last two games she has hit 19 of 35 (from the field),” Fennelly said. “She can post-up, or if they put a bigger kid on her, she will go out to the perimeter. She creates a tremendous match-up problem.”

Senior guard Tara Gunderson followed Olson’s 26 with 13 points of her own. She hit three treys, while ripping down three rebounds and dishing out a trio of assists before fouling out of the contest.

Junior forward Janel Grimm was the third and final Cyclone in double figures. Grimm scored 10 points in the Cyclone loss. She hit five of eight from the field and had a pair of assists as well as three rebounds.

The Cyclones found found some scoring in an unusual place against the highly-touted Jayhawks in freshman guard Cris Shelton.

Shelton, who was averaging less than a point a contest and hitting less than 10 percent on the season. Shelton had nine points on three of seven shooting, including three of five from the three-point range. “Her scoring was critical,” Fennelly said. “As a freshman, she played 27 minutes against Kansas without any fear.”

Freshman forward Monica Huelman followed Shelton in scoring with seven points. Huelman hit three of five from the charity stripe, while hitting two of four from the field and blocking a shot.

Senior guard Kim Martin added six points for the Cyclones on two of five shooting, while hitting two-of-three from the charity stripe and blocking a shot.

Martin had a team-high four assists, while grabbing five rebounds for the Cyclones.

Iowa State claimed the assist advantage by one (16-15) and turned the ball over only 16 times in the game.

Fennelly was pleased with the low number of turnovers.

“They pressed us the whole game,” Fennelly said. “I was happy that we had only 16 turnovers.”

The biggest downfall for the Cyclones was foul trouble, as the Cyclones were called for 28 personal fouls and a technical foul on Shelton.

Gunderson was the only Cyclone to make an early exit because of fouls, while Olson, Martin and Shelton were each charged with four. Grimm, Huelman, and Quintina Sullivan were each whistled for three fouls.

“We gave up 29 free throws,” Fennelly said. “And you have one of your best players on the bench next to the coaches. We played that hard.”

Because of the Cyclone foul troubles, the Jayhawks were able to find their way to the free-throw line 36 times, while hitting 29 of the attempts.

The Jayhawks were also able to claim the rebounding edge by a pair (30-28).

KU saw six players score in double figures, lead by Tamecka Dixon.

Dixon, an All-American candidate, paced the Jayhawks with 20 points, including 9 of 13 from the free-throw line.

Dixon had a team-high four assists, while sharing the rebounding lead with Lynn Pride with six apiece.

Jennifer Trapp followed with 13 points. Eleven of Trapp’s 13 points came from the free-throw line.

Patience Grayer also added 13 points for KU, while adding six rebounds, she also tallied a pair of assists in the Jayhawk victory.

Fennelly told the players the effort portrayed on the court could win a lot of games for the team down the road.

“I told them after the game that if we play that hard in every game, we will win,” Fennelly said.

The victory gives the Jayhawks the regular-season sweep over the Cyclones, with a total victory margin of seven points. Next action for the Cyclones will by against the third and final game of the road trip against Missouri Tigers on Tuesday, Feb. 11, in Columbia.