As the final seconds were about to tick away, the Cyclones saw the last Jayhawk they wanted to see at the free-throw line with the game on the line.

Chelsea Gardner.

After a missed 3-point attempt, the Cyclones had to immediately foul, sending Gardner to the line with just five seconds remaining and a KU three-point lead.

Gardner, of course, delivered just as she had the entire game. She calmly sank both attempts, sealing the 61-56 Kansas victory.

Bryanna Fernstrom has faced some tall tasks in the low-post throughout the early portion of the Big 12 schedule. Against Kansas, she faced perhaps her toughest test in the form of Chelsea Gardner.

“We were trying to get the ball to her, trying to attack the basket some,” ISU coach Bill Fennelly said of Fernstrom. “Obviously she had a tough night. Its one of those tough lessons she’s learning when you play against a great post player in Chelsea Gardner, one of the best post players in our league.”

Earlier in the week, Fennelly raved about Gardner, who averages 16 points per game and nearly eight rebounds.

Fennelly said that she was his preseason Big 12 player of the year and that he “would be shocked if she’s not a first round WNBA pick” next season.

The burden of trying to guard such a talented player fell largely on Fernstrom, a true freshman and senior Fallon Ellis, who was giving up five inches on Gardner.

Gardner simply dominated and Iowa State had no answer for the talented senior, who racked up 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting and pulled down 11 rebounds.

For much of the first half, the Cyclones tried to answer in the low-post with Fernstrom routinely attacking Gardner, but to erratic results. Fernstrom led the team in scoring at the half with seven points but had only made 3-of-10 shots from the field in the half.

Besides Gardner, the Cyclones next biggest issue was themselves. The Cyclones gave up 20 turnovers to a Kansas team that typically does not force a whole lot of turnovers.

 “For us, it was pretty simple,” Fennelly said. “You can’t turn the ball over 20 times and you can’t make the defensive mistakes we made. When that happens, you pay for it.”

By all accounts, the Cyclones felt like the turnovers were, for the most part, unforced.

“I don’t feel like they were doing anything,” said guard Nikki Moody, who had six turnovers herself. “I think we were hurting ourselves … at the end of the day we killed ourselves.”

After a three-game winning streak prior to the loss, at least one player thought that the Cyclones got a little to high on themselves and overlooked a Kansas team that is in the bottom of the Big 12 rankings.

Nicole “Kidd” Blaskowsky said the Cyclones came out flat and without energy.

“On this team, we have to come to every game with the same mentality whether its Texas, Baylor, Kansas, [Kansas State], low to high, we have to come ready to go, and tonight, obviously, we weren’t,” Blaskowsky said.

When Fennelly was asked about whether or not he thought his team had any energy issues or struggled with getting motivated enough to come out and play, he said, in short, that that’s a major issue.

“If that’s the case, there is either something really wrong with the head coach or there is something wrong with the players,” Fennelly said, “You’re not ready to play, or you don’t have energy in this building, in this game? The head coach has got to figure that out or the players. One of the two of them.”