Despite adverse weather conditions and a 25-point scoring performance by Kansas State’s Andria Jones, the Iowa State women’s basketball team returned home for a 54-40 victory in James H. Hilton Coliseum Saturday evening.

The victory was Iowa State’s sixth conference victory of the season, the most since the 1990-91 season under former Cyclone Head Coach Pam Wettig. That squad went 6-7 in the conference.

Saturday night’s weather conditions saw three inches of new snow along with a brisk wind creating blizzard-like conditions outside of Hilton. However, the 2,220 fans in attendance for the game saw a defensive battle from the outset.

Because of the defense, both teams opened the game as cold as the conditions outside as the teams shot a combined 18-of-57 (31.6 percent) in the opening half.

“We had great looks at the basket,” ISU Head Coach Bill Fennelly said. “We had looks all night that we haven’t had all season, all of the shots [we wanted] were there, they just weren’t falling. …

“I told the kids after the game to never be disappointed when you win the game,” Fennelly said. “We didn’t play well tonight. This was a hard-fought game. I knew two minutes into the game it was going to be this way.”

Iowa State, now 13-9 overall and 6-6 in the Big 12, had three players in double figures combining for 43 points.

Pacing the Iowa State scoring attack was Jayme Olson. The junior forward scored 19 points, including four-of-11 from behind the three point arc and collected a team-high eight rebounds.

Olson also added five-of-five from the free-throw line and swiped a pair of steals in the Cyclone victory.

Senior guard Tara Gunderson added 14 points for the Cyclones and dished out a team-high four assists. Gunderson also added a pair of rebounds and a couple of steals for the Cyclones.

Junior forward Janel Grimm responded with 10 points after being held scoreless for the first 22:14 of the game. The junior hit her first basket on a 15-foot jumper in the lane.

After the first basket, Grimm added the next two baskets for the Cyclones which prompted a Wildcat timeout with 13:10 remaining. Following the timeout, Grimm hit a pair of free throws after being hacked by Kansas State’s center Kayla Hester with 12:48 remaining.

“We had to attack their defense,” Olson said. “If you send the ball into the heart of their defense, it will open up your offense.”

The Cyclones had three others score in the 14-point victory.

Senior guard Kim Martin added five points, including three-of-five from the charity stripe. The senior also set a career high with four blocked shots.

Martin also added a pair of assists and three rebounds in just 20 minutes of action.

Senior Julie Hand and freshman Monica Huelman each added three points to round out the Cyclone scoring.

Hand hit one of four shots from the floor, including one-of-two from behind the three-point arc. The senior also had a share of the team’s assist lead with four, tying Gunderson. Hand led the team with three steals while coming off of the bench.

Huelman followed her three points with six rebounds, an assist and a blocked shot.

The Wildcats came out early and set the tempo. Kansas State was able to control it by gaining 47 rebounds in the outing, 15 better than the Cyclones.

Of the 47 rebounds, 21 came off of the offensive glass.

“Kansas State did a good job controlling the tempo tonight,” Fennelly said. “With this tempo, an eight- or nine-point lead seems more like 20.”

However, the Cyclones took charge in every other statistical category, including a season-low eight turnovers. The previous low was against Iona on Dec. 28 when the Cyclones had 10.

The Cyclones matched a season-low eight personal fouls, the other time was also against Iona.

Iowa State had 12 assists in the game on 17 made baskets. The assist total was two better than the Wildcats.

The Cyclones also managed to block five shots, led by Martin’s four, to better the Wildcats by three.

ISU gained nine steals in the game, six better than the opposition.

But the largest difference was in free-throw shooting. The Cyclones allowed a season low four attempts to the Wildcats, who managed to miss them all.

With the game tied at 25 apiece at halftime, the Cyclones opened the second half with a 17-4 run over the first 11:45. During that run, Grimm had eight points. Olson scored six and Gunderson added three to help the Cyclones pull away for good.

“We forced the right people for us, wrong people for them [to take shots],” Fennelly said. “That night they had [shooting], we had it. They don’t have any jump shooters just like us.”

The Wildcats were never able to get closer than nine points after the Cyclone outburst. The last time was with 1:56 remaining as the scoreboard showed a score of 49-40. However, the Cyclones were able to seal the game by hitting five-of-seven from the free throw line over the final two minutes. The Wildcats were outscored 29-15 in the second half, of which 13 of the Kansas State points came from Jones.

“Our No. 1 priority defensively was not to let Missy Decker get any good looks at three’s,” Fennelly said.

The Wildcats were only able to hit one-of-16 from behind the arc in the second half, after hitting five-of- 13 in the first 20 minute session.

With the victory, the Cyclones will move into the final two weeks of the regular season schedule.

With that in mind, Fennelly reflected back on the season.

Next action for the Cyclones will be against the Texas Longhorns in James H. Hilton Coliseum on Wednesday evening, Feb. 19, at 7 p.m.