For the past few weeks, Iowa State has had an unfortunate pattern in several of its games.

Take an early lead. Hold it for the first half. Give it away late. Lose in the final minutes.

Against No. 22 Oklahoma (13-4, 4-1 Big 12), it was the same story, except Iowa State’s (10-6, 1-4 Big 12) small halftime lead didn’t last quite as long as the Sooners won, 67-57.

Coach Bill Fennelly said he blames himself for the recent results.

“The obvious thing is this team has got to be coached better,” Fennelly said.

Oklahoma used a combination of several defenses to stifle the Iowa State offense. The Sooners jumped out to an early 6-0 lead due to turnovers on two of Iowa State’s first three possessions, thanks to a halfcourt trap.

“Obviously we weren’t shooting the ball like we needed to,” sophomore Bridget Carleton said. “We missed some open looks that would usually fall for us. Their defense started to pressure us a little bit so that kind of got us out of rhythm.”

In the third quarter, Oklahoma again switched up its defense. It used a full-court press to speed up the Cyclones, who didn’t make their second field goal of the second half until the 5:09 mark in the third quarter.

“At the end of the day, it’s about my responsibility to put this team in a chance to win games,” Fennelly said. “I think every game we’ve lost in the Big 12 and you add Mississippi State to it, we’ve been in the game with a chance to win.”

The Cyclones had a chance to blow the game open late in the second quarter, but a pair of 3s by Ankeny, Iowa, native Maddie Manning, and a missed Iowa State layup allowed Oklahoma to draw within two points at halftime.

“We haven’t found a way to make the play when we need to make it,” Fennelly said.

Iowa State’s big three of Jadda Buckley, Seanna Johnson and Bridget Carleton combined to shoot just 13-for-40 (32.5 percent) from the floor. The trio hit three of their 18 3-point attempts.

When the big three struggled, Meredith Burkhall stepped up. Burkhall posted her third career double-double and hit 5-of-11 shots from the floor.

“When our guards drove, I wanted to fill behind, and knowing that their post player wanted to sit in the lane, I wanted to find the opening,” Burkhall said. “Filling behind, looking for my shot and being confident and shooting it.”

Fennelly said he was happy with the effort he got from Burkhall.

“Meredith was good early,” Fennelly said. “She tried, she competed. She had 11 points, 11 rebounds. I thought she did some good things.

“We’ve got to coach her better so that she doesn’t make the little mistakes that hurt.”

With a 1-4 conference record, Iowa State knows it can’t afford to keep losing close games. At some point, the Cyclones have to start winning the nailbiters rather than coming up short.

“We’ve lost six games, and five of them, we were in the game with a chance to win the game,” Fennelly said. “But again, no one cares. You’ve got to win the game.”