The Lowdown

The ISU women’s basketball team opened Big 12 play on a positive note with a 60-55 win against Kansas State on Jan. 3 at Hilton Coliseum.

The Cyclones (10-2, 1-0 Big 12) found themselves in an early 8-2 hole against the stout zone defense from Kansas State (10-2, 0-1 Big 12), but back-to-back three-pointers from Brynn Williamson brought the Cyclones back to a tie and set the tone for a strong first half of shooting. Iowa State shot 48 percent from the field, including 6-of-12 from deep, in the opening 20 minutes.

A season-high 21 turnovers on the afternoon plagued the Cyclones, however, and helped the Wildcats erase their 11-point halftime deficit to a 50-50 tie with 3:21 to go. A three-pointer, courtesy of senior guard/forward Fallon Ellis, sparked a 10-5 ISU run to close out the game and seal the victory.

X-Factor

Fallon Ellis: The senior registered an efficient 21 minutes off the bench, shooting 4-of-4 overall, including a crucial three-pointer late in the game, and made both free throw attempts to score 11 points on the afternoon.

By the Numbers

28: Points off the bench for Iowa State, led by Ellis’ 11 and freshman Emily Durr’s 10. The ISU bench was two points shy of tallying half of the team’s points in the game.

1: Three-pointer made by Kansas State on nine attempts.

+7: The Cyclones’ advantage on the glass. Iowa State out-rebounded its foe 38-31.

9, 28.2: Because the game was close late, a plethora of strategic fouls and trips to the free throw line by both teams caused the final 28.2 seconds to take more than nine minutes to play out.

Up Next

The Cyclones face their first conference road test of the young Big 12 season when they travel south to face TCU (8-3, 0-0 Big 12) in what will be the Horned Frogs’ first Big 12 home game of the season. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Jan. 7 at the University Recreation Center in Fort Worth, Texas.