WBB: Cyclones Survive K-State and Advance
Media Relations
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – The fifth-seeded Iowa State women’s basketball team earned a first-round win over No. 12 seed Kansas State, 57-45, in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Tournament Tuesday afternoon at the Cox Convention Center. With the win, the Cyclones advance to play Nebraska, the fourth seed, at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday in the quarterfinals.
Iowa State split the regular-season series with the Cornhuskers and tied with Nebraska for fourth place in the final regular-season Big 12 standings. The game will be televised nationally by Fox Sports Net. The Cyclones improved to 23-7 on the season, while Kansas State dropped to 16-14. Iowa State defeated the Wildcats for the third time this season, and knocked off KSU in the league tournament for the first time in six tries.
Sophomore Nicky Wieben led the Cyclones with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting, to go with six rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. Senior Lyndsey Medders had 12 points and six assists, while Toccara Ross also finished in double digits with 10 points and four boards over just 17 minutes. Shana Wheeler led KSU with 17 points and 10 rebounds for the double-double.
“This was the game we expected,”
ISU head coach Bill Fennelly said. “We’ve always had tough games with Kansas State. I think both teams knew what the other was going to do. We are just excited. I told the kids, just move your name to the right of the bracket. It’s a big win and we are looking forward to playing tomorrow.”
Kansas State tied the game at 26-all to open the second half and tied it again twice more before
ISU finally began to build a cushion. Alison Lacey, Wieben and Medders hit three straight treys for the Cyclones to open the
ISU lead to eight points, 47-39, with six minutes to go. Kansas State cut the margin back to six points on two occasions, but Wieben got a conventional three-point play to give the Cyclones a 54-43 lead with 2:34 to go and
ISU held off the Wildcats the rest of the way.
Iowa State finished the game shooting 41.3 percent from the floor, after a 52 percent showing in the second period. The Cyclones held Kansas State to 27.3 percent shooting for the contests and just 15 percent from beyond the arc. The Wildcats outrebounded the Cyclones, 39-37.
Iowa State led 24-20 at halftime despite shooting just 28.6 percent from the field and committing nine first-half turnovers. The Cyclone defense, however, held the Wildcats to just 24 percent over the first 20 minutes, including going 0-of-13 to start the game.
ISU was 1-of-7 from three-point range, while Kansas State was 1-of-13 for the first period.
The Cyclones got out to an 8-1 start over the first seven and a half minutes of the contest. Kansas State cut
ISU’s initial lead to one, 8-7, but
ISU never trailed in the opening period. The Cyclones took a 16-10 advantage on a pair of Heather Ezell free throws. But KSU once again cut it to a single point, 16-15, with 2:44 to go. The Cyclones opened a seven-point lead, 24-17 on free throws by Amanda Nisleit to make it 24-17, but Kimberly Dietz hit the Wildcats’ only trey of the first half with two seconds on the clock to cut the halftime margin to four points.
WBB: Cyclones Survive K-State and Advance 
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