Iowa State’s women’s basketball team struggled at times on Monday night, but in the end the Cyclones got a much-needed win.

In their last game before a trip to the Bahamas for the Junkaroo Jam, the Cyclones defeated Missouri-Kansas City 61-45.

The ‘Roos were under the gun from the opening tip and never led. Freshman Madison Wise made her first career start for the Cyclones and made quick work of UMKC on the boards, grabbing 12 in the first half alone and finishing with 15 on the night.

The Cyclones had a 37-to-17 rebounding advantage at halftime and a 39-15 lead on the scoreboard. Junior forward Meredith Burkhall led Iowa State in the first half with 10 points and six rebounds on 4-of-7 shooting. Freshman Kristin Scott had her first career double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds.

Iowa State used its size advantage inside to counteract a poor performance from the three point line and control the tempo of the game. The Cyclones out-rebounded UMKC 61-to-38 over 40 minutes.

The ‘Roos found it hard to get good looks at the basket, and at halftime they were shooting 5-of-39 from the floor, or 12.8 percent. That number only rose to 21.3 percent by the final whistle.

It was a different game in the second half as UMKC began to shoot better while the Cyclones struggled with the ‘Roos press, turning the ball over 21 times on the night. Still, their dominant first half performance was enough to move to 2-1 on the season. 

The Cyclones now head to the Bahamas, where they will play the 2-2 Tulane Green Wave on Friday at 2:45 p.m.