Something funny happens to Iowa State sophomore forward Adriana Camber when the third quarter starts: She catches fire.

The sharpshooting Sweden has been up and down for the Cyclones this season (as has every player apart from junior guard Bridget Carleton), but there’s no doubting her standing as a second-half player.

Camber doesn’t quite know why she seems to come alive during the last 20 minutes of games.

“It just happens to be [that way],” Camber said. “Once you see the first ball go in, you get a lot more confidence.”

Let’s take a look at a four-game stretch that not only confirmed Camber’s status, but put her in the discussion to be a big contributor on the offensive end for the Cyclones heading into the Big 12 season.

During this four-game period, the Cyclones played games against Central Michigan, Drake, Vanderbilt, and Iowa. All four games were losses for Iowa State. The Cyclones struggled to create offense, and they were put under a lot of pressure on the defensive end.

Three of the four games were late heartbreakers, with two coming against in-state rivals. It put a dent in the Cyclones’ at-large aspirations for the NCAA tournament and put a dent in the confidence of a young, inexperienced team.

Despite the tough results, there were definite positives for the Cyclones, none more positive than the second-half contributions of Camber.

The stats are intriguing. In 160 minutes of action, Camber scored a total of 47 points. That’s good for 11.75 points per game, which is a good but not a mind-blowing number. The thing is, only six of those points came in the first half. In 80 second-half minutes of basketball, Camber averaged just a hair over one point every two minutes.

For coach Bill Fennelly, it’s mystifying why Camber shows up almost exclusively in the second half.

“She can really make shots, and that’s obviously something we need,” Fennelly said. “Sometimes kids just take a while to get into the flow of the game.”

She’s also started to garner the reputation of a big-game player. It’s not a coincidence that those four big games have come against four of Iowa State’s best non-conference opponents.

Players who relish a big contest can be hard to find on such a young team. When four of the ten players on the Cyclones’ active roster had never set foot on a Division I basketball court, the players with experience have to step up.

What makes Camber’s rise for Iowa State so interesting is her relative lack of experience in big games prior to this season, even as a returning player.

Despite playing in 25 games as a freshman, she only averaged 7.5 minutes per game and was not a key member of the Cyclones’ return to the NCAA Tournament. Her minutes this year are up to 23.1, and she has started nine of 10 this year after not starting at all in 2016-17.

In fact, through 10 games the wing has already taken more shots this year (61) than she took in her maiden season (57).

Looking at her season statistics so far, it’s easy to see what Camber’s favorite area is on the floor. In regards to shooting, 75.4 percent of her attempts have come from 3-point range, and she’s hitting them at a 43.5 percent clip (third best on the team).

It’s rare to find Camber in the lane on the offensive end. On the defensive end, she picks up a relatively high number of rebounds for a wing player at 3.7 per game.

Camber doesn’t shy away from admitting the 3-point line is her comfort zone, while acknowledging her desire to add more to her game.

“Definitely,” Camber said. “It’s always something I’ve done, but I need to find another dimension and keep taking it to the basket.”

Up next for Camber is finding a way to take those productive performances and stretch them out consistently over a 40-minute game, which she has yet to do this season.

It’s quite an interesting problem for a coach to have, and Fennelly said they’ve tried different methods to remedy it.

“If I can figure that one out I’ll tell you,” Fennelly said. “We just gotta trick her into what time the game is.

“We’ve given her box scores of the first half and second and show her.”

With the Cyclones desperately searching for a player to become second and third scoring options to ease Carleton’s scoring burden, Camber has the chance to leave a mark on the Cyclones’ season. She’ll have to take more shots to take the next step, though. Averaging just 6.1 shots per game so far, players and coaches want Camber to be more aggressive and get more shots off in the first half.

Carleton says there should be a team effort to get Iowa State’s second-half sharpshooter firing early and often.

“We need her to have confidence throughout the 40 minutes,” Carleton said. “We have to get her looks early.”