Basketball is a game of runs, and the ISU women’s basketball team went on a big one in Wednesday night’s 77-48 victory against Texas Tech at Hilton Coliseum.

The Lady Raiders had the first run of the game with an early 8-0 run in the first quarter. The Cyclones battled back and took the lead with a couple of free throws and 3-pointers by freshman Bridget Carleton.

It seemed like Iowa State was simply taking command of the game early on with a mini run of its own, but that soon turned into a big run.

From midway through the first quarter to early on in the third quarter, Iowa State steamrolled Texas Tech with a 44-9 run. Late in the second quarter, the Cyclones were on a 29-0 run. During a span of 13:33, Texas Tech couldn’t muster up a field goal. It went 9:40 without scoring a single point in the second quarter.

“I didn’t know what the run was. I was just trying to manage the score,” said ISU coach Bill Fennelly. “I knew it was 8-2, and then I looked up there and saw it was 22-8. I’m thinking, ‘OK, we’re getting better.’ My math’s not too bad, but I really wasn’t paying that much attention to the numbers. You kind of get caught up in the game.”

Iowa State found a way to turn its recent shooting woes in the win as well. The Cyclones finished 43.3 percent from the field and 40.9 percent from behind the arc.

“When you’re in a slump like that, being on top and getting a run and being in sync like that, it makes the game fun,” said senior Kidd Blaskowsky.

Prior to that, Iowa State had a little run in the losing column. It lost three straight games against No. 6 Texas, No. 24 West Virginia and TCU and couldn’t find any consistency with the ball going in the hoop.

The Cyclones only shot 39.1 percent from the field against TCU, 24.6 percent against West Virginia and 31.5 percent against Texas. The same went for the 3 ball. 

“Obviously, we’ve struggled to shoot,” Fennelly said. “They opened up the court, and then we got a couple transition layups too. It’s a combination of good offense, them missing some shots, but I thought we were connected at both ends of the floor. It was probably as good a 15 minutes as we can possibly play.”

Through Iowa State’s massive run — a run that Fennelly said Iowa State desperately needed — every ISU starter finished in double figures. Freshman Meredith Burkhall finished with 19 points and seven rebounds. Carleton ended up with 13 points and 12 rebounds — the only ISU starter with a double-double on the night.

Blaskowsky finished with 13 points, redshirt sophomore Jadda Buckley ended up with 11 points and junior Seanna Johnson finished with 10 points.

“The biggest thing for us has been the ability to finish what you started,” Fennelly said. “You think about a team that’s 12-12 and in eighth place, and you have a crowd like that, especially on a special night with the pink and for Lexi [Albrecht] and her family. It’s got to make them feel good and certainly give us some hope to finish strong.”