Oftentimes lauded for gaudy offensive statistics and excellent shooting from the perimeter, it sometimes seems given that the ISU women’s basketball team will put almost 80 points on the scoreboard any night of the week.

Against Stony Brook on Dec. 7, however, it was anything but.

The home-standing Cyclones came out as the always do, unafraid to hoist up shots left and right. Iowa State made exactly half of its 28 first-half shots, putting up 39 points. One problem: The ever-reliable 3-pointer wasn’t falling, as the Cyclones made just 2-of-9 shots from beyond the arc.

Brynn Williamson, who led Iowa State and was tied for sixth in the nation with 3.6 made 3-pointers coming into the day, was held scoreless on 0-of-2 shooting.

“I thought defensively they did a great job,” said ISU coach Bill Fennelly. “They face-guarded [Williamson], and we hadn’t seen that … This is the first time that we saw someone absolutely commit. We’ve seen people get up into her. I mean, they committed to face-guarding her.”

Mix the inefficiency from deep with a generous portion of hot shooting from the Seawolves, and the Cyclones found the perfect recipe for disaster.

“They were just hot,” said ISU guard Nikki Moody. “They came out shooting, and all their shots were going in, and we were trying our best to get them out [of] the paint, and everything was just falling for them so it was kind of hard for us to get a lead.”

Though Iowa State took a lead into halftime, it was of the small, two-point variety, no doubt unaided by some familiarity of the opponent’s bench.

“They were well-prepared, well-coached, had a great plan, they played very well. They did some things that they hadn’t don’t all season, to their credit … Their staff is very good. [Head coach] Caroline [McCombs] does a great job and Adam [Call], their assistant, used to be at Oklahoma. I told my staff, I told our kids, they’re going to do some things to us that Oklahoma used to do to us.”

Just like trying to make a new dish for the first time, Iowa State tweaked its approach and altered portions to the coaching staff’s liking.

“They made every shot they took in the first half, and we tried to adjust [to zone defense] in the second half … and I think that changed our mindset, and our momentum just sky rocketed with all five of us on the floor,” said ISU guard Seanna Johnson.

Fennelly liked the taste he got of his team’s new strategy but just the finishing touch was missing.

With under four minutes to play, Williamson finally broke through by netting a 3-pointer in transition for her only score of the night to extend the ISU lead to five points. Sprinkle in an old-fashioned 3-point play from Moody and suddenly Iowa State led by eight points.

Although Stony Brook responded with a 4-0 run of its own, Moody stepped up again to stave off the comeback attempt with her third triple of the afternoon.

“Keep shooting,” Moody said of the team’s mentality going into the second half. “We talk about it in practice all the time — they’re going to fall, so just keep shooting.”

As is the case with any home-cooked cuisine in Hilton Coliseum, the cardinal and gold faithful served as the cherry on top for the 74-64 ISU victory. To Fennelly, that’s what made the recipe work.

“We don’t give away player of the game very often. If we did, the fans would get it. We don’t win today if it’s not for our fans,” Fennelly said. “Basically the fans were the difference. Stony Brook outplayed us, outcoached us, but we won the game, and we feel good about winning the game,and hopefully we can move on and get better.”