Cyclones Fall to No. 2 Texas in Second Round

DALLAS (AP) - Outshot and outrebounded in the first half by underdog Iowa State, No. 2 Texas got back on track with the help of a halftime pep talk from junior guard Jamie Carey.

Texas opened the second half with a 20-8 run, capped by three straight jumpers from Nina Norman, in a 64-54 victory over Iowa State on Wednesday in the Big 12 tournament quarterfinals.

"I decided to stay out in the hall and not go in the locker room for a few minutes and let Jamie talk to them," Texas coach Jody Conradt said. "She took care of making the points that needed to be taken care of. She had things to say to them and they responded to her."

Norman and Tiffany Jackson had 16 points each for the Longhorns (27-3), who will face No. 14 Baylor in the semifinals. The Lady Bears beat No. 10 Texas Tech 80-72.

One of Carey's halftime messages to her teammates was the need to rebound better and pick up the intensity on defense.

At halftime, the teams were tied at 29, but Iowa State held a 17-11 rebounding edge and the Cyclones converted 11 of their 22 field goal-attempts, 6-for-11 from 3-point range.

"We knew we had to pick it up defensively," Conradt said. "Nobody could afford to relax."

Ninth-seeded Iowa State finished with 21 turnovers, leading to 19 Texas points. The Cyclones were scoreless during a 9:37 stretch at the end of the first half and early in the second half.

"We knew it was important to come out fired up and play as tough on defense as we could," said forward Stacy Stephens, who led the Longhorns with seven rebounds.

Lyndsey Medders had 12 points. and Lisa Kriener added 11 points for the Cyclones (15-14).

Iowa State couldn't score over the final 6:05 of the first half, and remained silent on offense until Erica Junod's layup with 16:48 left ended the drought and pulled the Cyclones to 38-31.

Texas then went on an 11-6 run capped by Norman's three consecutive mid-range jumpers for a 49-37 lead. Iowa State never got closer than seven points the rest of the way.

The Cyclones didn't have an inside basket in the first half, but they connected on six of their first nine 3-pointers to build a 29-23 advantage with 6:05 left until halftime.

Texas finished the half with six straight points to even the score at 29.

"I thought the first 15 minutes, we played as good as we could play considering the competition," Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly said. "The end of the first half hurt, and we didn't score in the last six minutes. Texas really decided to get up in our grill and guard us and we had a hard time."

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Team Stats

Lyndsey Medders

Lisa Kriener

Megan Ronhovde

Katie Robinette

Players Mentioned

Erica Junod

Erica Junod

Lisa Kriener

Lisa Kriener

Lisa Kriener

Lyndsey Medders

Lyndsey Medders

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