AMES – The Iowa State women’s basketball team (17-7, 6-7 Big 12) dropped the Kansas Jayhawks (12-14, 5-9 Big 12) by a score of 72-69 in the final seconds Saturday night in Hilton Coliseum. Iowa State was led by a 29-point performance from senior Hallie Christofferson, who also chipped in eight rebounds.
The Cyclones and Jayhawks came out firing, but it was the Jayhawks that couldn’t miss, shooting 56.7 percent from the field in the first half to take an 11-point lead over Iowa State. However, for the Cyclones it was Christofferson who stole the show notching 18 points, which was over half the Cyclones’ 33 first-half points.
The Cyclones would come out strong in the second half, closing the gap after a gritty layup by Nikki Moody with 11:28 remaining in the game. It would take the Cyclones until the 7:32 mark in the second period to take their first lead since the first half after Christofferson knocked down a pair of free shots after a foul by Chelsea Gardner.
In a close game that featured 12 ties and eight lead changes, fouls would prove costly for the Jayhawks as Iowa State would earn trip after trip to the charity stripe, going 18-21 from the line in the second half.
With too many great plays down the stretch to count, it was a costly travel by Kansas with 15.1 seconds on the clock as KU trailed by one. Christofferson then hit two big free-throws with :14 seconds left to put ISU up 72-69.
Hallie Christofferson tallied her 14th 20-point performance of the season with a 9-of-21 effort from the field and a 9-of-10 showing from the charity stripe.
Iowa State hits the road to take on Baylor on Wednesday, Feb. 19. The Big 12 showdown is slated to tip off at 7 p.m. CT on FCS.
