Before Saturday’s game at Hilton Coliseum against No. 22 Kansas State, guard Jadda Buckley was honored for reaching the 1,000-career point mark last week.

In the final minutes against the Wildcats, Buckley showed the crowd of 11,673 how she has scored so many points.

Buckley — along with teammates Seanna Johnson and Bridget Carleton — carried Iowa State to a tough win over Kansas State, thanks to timely free-throw shooting.

Entering Saturday’s matchup with Kansas State, the Cyclones had six losses in conference play. In five of them, Iowa State held a second-half lead and gave it away.

That changed Saturday when Iowa State (11-8, 2-6 Big 12) got its second Big 12 win in a 75-69 defeat of No. 22 Kansas State (15-5, 5-3 Big 12).

That pattern of losing games in the fourth quarter has hung over Iowa State like a rain cloud since late December. When it came down to the final minutes, coach Bill Fennelly said he knew his big three weren’t nervous.

“I think you could feel [the pressure],” Fennelly said. “But I think for the first time in a while — I don’t think Seanna, Jadda and Bridget thought that.

“I think the only three people in the building that probably for a couple minutes weren’t panicking were those three.”

Of Iowa State’s 27 points in the fourth quarter, 19 came from the trio of Johnson, Buckley and Carleton. Iowa State’s final 11 points in the game were from the big three, including an 8-for-8 run at the free-throw line when Kansas State tried to extend the game.

“Jadda Buckley,” Johnson said with a laugh. “You know what you need. She’s an incredible free-throw shooter, so we knew we had to get her the ball.”

Buckley hit all six of her free-throw attempts in the final minute of the game.

“There’s no one in the country that I’d want on the free-throw line more than Jadda Buckley,” Fennelly said. “The kid might be the leading free-throw shooter in the country. She wants the ball.”

While Buckley had a strong scoring game with a game-high 21 points, the Kansas State zone defense prevented her from penetrating and creating shots for teammates. That duty went to Johnson.

After going without a basket during her previous 49 minutes on the court, Johnson erupted for 13 points, five rebounds and seven assists in the second half.

“I thought Seanna Johnson was incredible in the second half,” Fennelly said. “You talk about a kid that went 60 minutes without a point after Baylor and the first half [Saturday night], and the way they were playing their defense, basically she’s playing point forward.

“We said before the game if we were successful, Seanna’s gonna get a lot of assists.”

Johnson finished the game with nine assists, a new career high. Carleton also chipped in a career high in assists with five.

“I think it’s huge for us [to close out a game],” Carleton said. “The fourth quarter hasn’t been our friend the past couple games so I think it just showed our mental toughness throughout this game.”