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It was a tale of two halves on Sunday afternoon for the Iowa State women’s basketball team against Cal State-Fullerton, in route to a 79-52 win.
The Cyclones (8-0) entered the game riding a seven game winning streak, where as, the Titans (1-7) were in the midst of a three-game losing streak. In the first half, the Titans played much better than their record would have indicated by connecting on six 3-pointers heading into the halftime down only two, 27-25, to the No. 20 Cyclones.
“We really didn’t come out like we were capable of tonight,” said Iowa State senior forward Hallie Christofferson. “Give Cal State credit. They never stopped fighting back.”
In the first half, the Cyclones shot 40.7 percent from the floor and were 0-for-9 from behind the arc.
The second half was a much different story for the Cyclones, who connected on seven 3-pointers and shot 63.6 percent from the field to outscore the Titans 52-27.
Christofferson led all scorers with a career-high, 33 points. Christofferson also grabbed eight rebounds and went 10-for-10 from the free throw line in 36 minutes of play.
When asked about Christofferson’s performance senior guard, Nikki Moody said that she is no longer surprised by what she does on the floor.
“It’s Hallie,” Moody said. “I expect the best from her every game and that’s what she gives us.”
Cyclone head coach Bill Fennelly echoed those feelings on Christofferson’s performance.
“We had the best player in the game by far,” Fennelly said. “When she is playing the way she is and we are getting her the ball the way we are, that’s good for our team.”
Kidd Blaskowsky scored 16 points and hit two 3-pointers for the Cyclones. Jadda Buckley was the other Cyclone that finished in double figures scoring with 10.
Hailey King led the Titans in with 13. The two teams were even in the rebounding battle with both teams finishing with 36 boards. The Titans were able to grab 15 offensive rebounds compared to seven for the Cyclones. Iowa State also picked up eight steals against the Titan offense.
“We just played solid defense, which helped lead into our offense,” Christofferson said.
On the night the Cyclones shot 51 percent from the field and 38.9 percent from 3-point range The Titans shot 29.5 percent from the field and 27.5 percent from three.
The Cyclone women will next be in action on Thursday when they take on the rival Iowa Hawkeyes.
“We better wake up,” Fennelly said. “We are sitting on the track and the train is coming here on Thursday.”
