The Iowa State women’s basketball team notched its first win in conference play with a big 87-58 win over Kansas on Sunday at Hilton Coliseum.

Both the Cyclones (9-5, 0-3 Big 12) and the Jayhawks (6-8, 0-3 Big 12) came into the matchup looking for their first conference win. But from the very beginning, this one was dominated by the Cyclones.

In the first quarter alone, the Cyclones forced 10 turnovers and limited the Jayhawks to just four points on just one field goal.

By the end of the game, five Cyclones scored in double figures, including two players of the bench in junior Emily Durr and senior Heather Bowe.

One of the game’s big performances came from Bowe, who finished the game with a career-high 16 points and 10 rebounds. Bowe came off the bench Sunday after starting two straight games due to what Fennelly described as a matchup issue.

“I tried to focus on the little things and let the game come to me,” Bowe said. “I didn’t try to force things and really focused on rebounding first and everything else fell into place. Honestly, I don’t mind [coming off the bench], I think TeeTee [Starks] does a great job in there, whatever is best for the team.”

Bowe also marked a career best in 3-pointers (3-3) and blocks (3).

Iowa State was led in scoring by sophomore Bridget Carleton, who finished with 21 points. Carleton got off to a rocky start in conference play, but turned the corner and gained some confidence back in this game.

“I felt much better this game. Coach has been on me about shooting, he wants me to keep shooting,” Carleton said. “[Coach] has confidence in me and he tells me that every day, he’s been really helpful. I’ve been in the gym shooting every day and it was nice to see it pay off in a game.”

The Cyclones shot 47 percent from the floor (27-for-57) and 48 percent from beyond the 3-point line (10-for-21). While the team was able to force 19 turnovers, the Cyclones committed 23 turnovers, one of the only low points of the game.

Before the game, Fennelly emphasized that the team needed to be aggressive and work on getting to the free-throw line. Iowa State got to the charity stripe 29 times, converting on 23 of them.

“That was the No. 1 thing for us,” Fennelly said. “Kansas plays a very physical style, they always do. We just told them, you got to drive to the basket, be aggressive, don’t settle. We did that from the very beginning.”

The first conference win was a big one for the Cyclones as a fourth straight loss would have been draining on the confidence of the team. Iowa State has been competitive in all of its conference matchups but couldn’t complete the games before Sunday.

“I think we needed that one really bad, no one wants to hear you were close,” Fennelly said. “Even though as a coach you talk about competing and effort, but at the end of the day, no one really cares about effort unless you’re winning. Tonight was a game where we got off to a good start and just kept playing and that’s a credit to them.”