Thursday’s match between Iowa State and Baylor saw two teams that haven’t been performing as well as they would like in Big 12 play with a combined record of 2-7-1 in conference play, but a win tonight would go a long way in helping both teams make their Big 12 tournament push.

The Cyclones could not figure out how to stop the Baylor offense, falling to the Bears 4-2. The Cyclones were the first to strike in the 20th minute when Salomé Prat scored her 4th goal of the year.

After that, it was all Baylor. Baylor responded immediately in the 22nd minute when Tyler Isgrig got her fifth goal of the season, followed by the Bears’ Salma Simonin’s first goal of her career at the 28-minute mark.

The game stayed close at the half but right after the break, Isgrig scored her second goal of the night in the 46th minute, her sixth of the year. Then late in the 61-minute mark, Baylor added one more from Ashley Merrill.

The Cyclones pulled a little bit closer in the 83-minute mark when Prat found the back of the net for the second time, her 5th of the year, but the Cyclones fell to 4-9-1 on the year.

Defense remains not up to par

If you take away the last game for the Cyclones, the defense has always been a strong point in keeping the Cyclones in games. Three of the last four opponents that Iowa State faced only scored one goal a contest.

Tonight’s match was very different. After the defense showed up for the first 20 minutes it was a downhill spiral after.

Baylor put up two goals in each half and really put the game out of reach with four goals. Avery Gillahan played well and tallied a pair of saves but was put under constant pressure by the Baylor offense.

Offense shows signs of life

It’s been no secret that the offense for Iowa State has been anything but smooth sailing this season.

The Cyclones offense had been shut out in four of the last six games, but tonight was a different story.

Early on the Cyclones grabbed the lead 1-0 and the offense was looking good. But after that, it was a struggle.

The Cyclones added one more goal with Prat scoring her second of the game late in the 83rd minute. In between the two goals, the Cyclones had great chances and really put the pressure on the Baylor defense but couldn’t find the net.

On the night Iowa State had 14 shots with six shots on goal and had an 8-3 corner kick advantage over the Bears. The Cyclones offense is moving in the right direction by getting a lot of scoring chances, but they just need to capitalize.

Fouls stay with Cyclones

Speaking of the defense, the ongoing fouling issue showed up again in tonight’s loss. Last game Iowa State out-fouled BYU 15-7, and that has been an ongoing story all year.

Tonight the Cyclones showed some signs of progress, only out-fouling the Bears 13-9 as well as receiving two yellow cards on the evening.

With the Cyclones trying to make a push to sneak into the Big 12 Conference tournament, they need to get the fouling under control.

The Cyclones are back in action at 1 p.m. Sunday when they take on Texas.