In the battle of David versus Goliath, the Iowa State women’s basketball team upset the ninth-ranked Texas Longhorns, 74-56, in Hilton Coliseum Wednesday night.

“This is by far the biggest win I have ever been a part of,” senior guard Tara Gunderson said after the game.

Head Coach Bill Fennelly felt the victory gave the Cyclones additional credibility.

“We want to get credibility,” Fennelly said.

“And in order to gain credibility we need to beat ranked teams. The kids though we could play. I just hope the kids don’t think the season is over after this.”

The Cyclones were led by junior Jayme Olson with 22 points, 13 of which came in the second half.

Olson, after a slow start, hit 7-of-14 from the field and six-of-seven from the charity stripe.

Olson also claimed 10 rebounds, eight of which came in the second half, to notch her fourth double-double of the season.

Also scoring in double figures for the Cyclones was Gunderson with 15 points.

After missing most of the first half because of foul trouble, Gunderson added 12 points in the second hal, including five-of-six from the free-throw line going down the stretch, to help seal the game.

The senior guard also had four assists and four rebounds in the victory.

Senior guard Julie Hand was third on the team with nine points. The senior also had a team-high five assists, a pair of rebounds and a pair of steals in the Cyclone victory.

The Cyclones had scoring from junior forward Janel Grimm with eight point. Grimm also grabbed 10 rebounds and a pair of assists.

Also scoring eight points was freshman guard Cris Shelton. Shelton, who averages less than a point a contest, hit all eight of her points, going perfect from the field and the charity stripe in the first half.

After holding a 34-28 halftime margin, the Longhorns battled back to take the lead with 11:49 at 42-41.

“Coach told us at halftime that over the first four minutes it will seem like there are seven players out there,” Gunderson said. “He said they would be running and jumping at us.”

Gunderson hit a three to regain the lead at 44-42 with 10:34 left. After haggling with Texas for the next four minutes, the Cyclones took the lead for good with 7:01 remaining, with a three-pointer by Olson that gave the Cyclones a 52-50 advantage.

The Cyclone defense tightened up as ISU exploded on a 22-6 run to finish the game.

“We worked hard knowing their players,” Olson said. “We were able to identify their scorers.”

“We just tried to slow down their shooters,” Shelton said.

Fennelly said he felt the Cyclones played a solid defense.

Iowa State was able to out- rebound the Longhorns throughout the contest. The final rebound margin favored the Cyclones by six, 40-34.

“Our rebounding was huge,” Gunderson said. “A lot of times in the second half they were making their shots on second and third attempts and it showed.”

The Cyclones also had a 15-14 assist advantage.

Because of foul trouble by Gunderson and a few breathers for Olson, the Cyclone bench played a big part in the victory, as eight of the nine Cyclones who saw action tallied points.

“The reserves played well tonight,” Fennelly said. “Cris, Cheyenne (Palmer) and Alecia (Lee) all played well.”

Palmer stepped up and took over most of the minutes with Gunderson on the bench.

Palmer added two points and three rebounds in 12 minutes of action.

Also scoring for the Cyclones were Monica Huelman and Kim Martin.

Each had five points in the contest.

Martin had seven rebounds, while blocking a pair of shots in the contest.

The Cyclones were able to hit better than 50 percent (24-of-47), while hitting 12-of-19 in the second half.

Leading the Longhorns in scoring were Amie Smith and Amber Hasenmyer who each scored 14 points in the contest.

The next action for the Cyclones (14-9 overall, 7-6 conference) will be at Nebraska on Saturday.

Then the Cyclones will return home for their final home game of the season against Oklahoma State on Feb. 25.