The Iowa State women’s basketball team beat up on the Oklahoma State Cowgirls on senior night Tuesday evening in Hilton Coliseum.

ISU’s group of five seniors went out in style with a 61-52 victory, good enough to earn the team bragging rights to the best conference record in school history. The Cyclones are now 16-9 overall and 9-6 in the conference.

And for the first time in history, the women have a chance to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

The senior class of Julie Hand, Tara Gunderson, Kim Martin, Alecia Lee and Cheyenne Palmer finished their careers on the court together.

Iowa State Head Coach Bill Fennelly pulled the junior forward tandem of Jayme Olson and Janel Grimm in favor of Lee and Palmer with with about a minute left in the game.

“Obviously I was excited for the seniors,” Fennelly said. “A lot of times they leave Hilton with their heads down. But now they can leave here with their heads up and with a great sense of pride.”

“This was a really important game,” Gunderson said. “I was really excited.”

Hand said to be a part of history was important to her.

“It means a lot personally,” she said.

“Especially after our freshman and sophomore years when we won just one conference game.”

The Cyclones were powered by a balanced scoring attack lead by Hand and Grimm.

Hand threw in 14 points and grabbed six rebounds. She had three assists in 36 minutes of action.

Grimm added 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

Olson followed with 11 points while struggling from the field in the first half. Olson hit one-of-seven in the first half, but managed to score eight second-half points. The junior pulled down five rebounds and dished out four assists for the Cyclones.

Gunderson hit 10 second-half points, including three straight three-point baskets.

The senior also pulled down five rebounds and dished out six assists while committing no turnovers.

“Tara is not a [true] point guard,” Fennelly said. “But she had six assists and no turnovers in 40 minutes tonight. That shows a lot about her.”

Martin followed with six points and grabbed four rebounds. Martin gained three steals, handed out three assists and blocked a pair of shots.

Lee grabbed two offensive rebounds and added a pair of points in six minutes of play.

Palmer was the only senior not to score.

However, after the final buzzer sounded, she grabbed the basketball and spotted up on the left wing in front of the Cyclone bench. She drilled a shot, prompting applause.

The Cyclones were able to hit 37.3 percent from the field on 22-of-59 shooting.

Iowa State managed to tie a season high for the third time by hitting 10 three-pointers.

The Cyclones opened the game with a quick scoring flurry, going on a 13-2 run over the first 5 minutes and 37 seconds.

“I was definitely ready to go,” Gunderson said.

Grimm, who hit seven of her 10 first-half points, led the run.

The Cowgirls responded with a 10-2 run of their own to cut the lead to 15-12 with 7:41 remaining in the half.

Oklahoma State continued to control the tempo and was able to take a one-point lead into the halftime break at 28-27.

Grimm had 10 points and three rebounds in the first 20 minutes of action.

Hand served up a solid first-half as well by contributing eight points and five rebounds for the Cyclones.

The Cyclones opened the second half with tough defense led by Martin.

The Iowa State perimeter defense was important as the team held Oklahoma State, the conference’s highest perimeter percentage team, to 16.7 percent in the game.

Leading the Cowgirls in scoring was freshman guard Jennifer Crow. Crow ran off nine first-half points, but was held in check the second half, scoring just 13 for the game. Cheri Edwards followed with 11 points while grabbing six rebounds and a pair of assists.

Nikki Harmon followed with 10 points. Harmon hit four-of-seven from the field while grabbing eight boards.

The Cyclones didn’t have much time to prepare for the Cowgirls. The team just returned from a 57-55 victory over the Nebraska Cornhuskers Sunday evening.

“We just use our basic philosophy,” Fennelly said. “We just stress these, the basic fundamentals. Then we [go] over their players and their tendencies.”

The Cyclones will be back in action against the Colorado Buffaloes on March 1.

Iowa State fell to the Buffaloes 68-66 in double overtime earlier this year.