After holding a 44-29 lead midway through the third quarter, the Iowa State Cyclones found themselves trailing to the Oklahoma Sooners 59-55 with less than five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

However, Iowa State then found itself up 61-59 with 37 seconds left. The Cyclones made two free throws and got the defensive stops they needed to beat Oklahoma 63-59 in Hilton Coliseum.

“ ‘Iowa State can’t win unless they make threes, we didn’t make (many) threes, Iowa State’s too soft, we weren’t soft today, all these things we hear that we’re not, we were today,’ ” Coach Bill Fennelly said.

The Cyclones finished the game on an 8-0 scoring run.

What led to the Sooners’ comeback was a lack of scoring by Iowa State. This was because of an injury in the third quarter to the Cyclones leading scorer, sophomore forward Ashley Joens.

Joens went down with a shoulder injury. She returned to the game late in the quarter and scored seven of the Cyclones 15 points in the fourth quarter.

In the second half, the Cyclones only scored 25 points but still won 63-59. While the Cyclones struggled to score late in the third and early in the fourth, it didn’t to begin the game.

Five seconds after winning the tipoff against the Sooners, the Cyclones made a layup.

The game started off with a quick possession and quick possessions where the offense scored (or a rather lack thereof from Oklahoma), along with second-chance points, made the difference in Saturday’s game.

The Cyclones scored 11 fast-break points and 12 second-chance points.

On the defensive end, the Cyclones did not let the Sooners get out and run or get that many second-chance opportunities, as they held the Sooners to six fast break points and four-second chance points.

What led to their advantage in fast break points, is because the Cyclones limited the Sooners to just 11 offensive rebounds while they grabbed 15 offensive rebounds.

The Cyclones outscored the Sooners 12-4 on second-chance opportunities.

“Our main focus was rebounding and today shows why rebounding is so important in close games,” Junior center Kristin Scott said.

With its win over the Sooners on Saturday, Iowa State now moves to 14-8 (6-5 Big 12) and controls sole position of fourth place out of ten in the Big 12.

The Sooners are now 12-11 (5-6 Big 12). They will fall to anywhere between fifth and seventh place in the conference, depending on the other results in this weekend’s Big 12 games.