LUBBOCK, Texas – Iowa State was hot early and hustled late to earn a 58-54 Big 12 road win at Texas Tech Saturday in United Spirit Arena. Some of the credit must go to Iowa State (11-1 overall, 2-0 Big 12) head coach Bill Fennelly, who saved his timeouts in the first half for key situations late, despite a couple of Lady Raider runs. Consequently, he saw his team tally its third-ever win at Texas Tech (11-3 overall, 1-1 Big 12). The Cyclones are 2-0 in the Big 12 Conference for the first time since the 2004-05 season.
“Defense travels and so does effort and tonight was a great example of that,” Iowa State head coach Bill Fennelly said. “If you go on the road and hold somebody to 54 points, you are going to be in the game. Everybody is tired but it will be a good flight home. To be 2-0 with wins against Texas and Texas Tech is a great way to start the conference season.”
Hallie Christofferson was 5-of-5 from the floor, making both of her three-point attempts to pace Iowa State with 13 points. Chelsea Poppens scored the last two of her eight points in the final two seconds of the game to ice the Cyclone victory. She made a game-high 15 rebounds in a contest in which no other player on either team earned double figures on the boards. It was her 36th career game with more than 10 rebounds. Iowa State outscored Texas Tech 16-3 off the bench.
Texas Tech jumped out with an 8-1 run in the first three minutes of the second half to lead 39-35, its biggest advantage of the game, with 17:08 left. Iowa State fought back and Kidd Blaskowsky’s jumper put the Cyclones in the lead for good, 44-42 with 11:38 remaining in the game. Nevetheless, the Iowa Staters couldn’t open an advantage of more than five points down the stretch. Kelsi Baker’s free throws pulled Texas Tech within 55-54 with 46 seconds left in the game. A Brynn Williamson free throw and a couple of Poppens’ hustle plays netted the Cyclones a pair of huge rebounds as time ran out on the Lady Raiders. Williamson had 13 points, with three treys. Chyna Brown led Texas Tech with 19 points. Both teams made nine three-point field goals but Iowa State made theirs on 15 attempts while Texas Tech had to shoot 25 times to get their total. The Lady Raiders came into the game on a high after road win at No. 12 Oklahoma State Wednesday.
Iowa State outshot Texas Tech to lead 34-31 at the half. The Cyclones made 8-of-12 three-point attempts, including a trio of treys by Fallon Ellis. The teams were tied 12-12, when Ellis’ first three-point capped a 9-0 run for a 21-12 Iowa State advantage with 8:49 left in the first half. Texas Tech struck back and took a 22-21 lead on a Casey Morris basket with 4:40 left. But Iowa State surged back into the lead with a Williamson three followed by Ellis’ third three-pointer heading into halftime. Iowa State hit on 13-of-21 (61.9 percent) shots from the field in the first half as Texas Tech shot 34.6 percent on 9-of-26 field-goal attempts. Iowa State did not go to the free-throw line in the first half while Texas Tech tallied eight points at the line.
Iowa State plays at Baylor Wednesday at 7 p.m. CST in Waco, Texas.
