Cyclones Dominate Saint Louis, 76-48

Saturday, December 16

Des Moines, Iowa

11:00 AM

Iowa State

8-1

Saint Louis

7-4

Team	1	2	F
Saint Louis	17	31	48
Iowa State	51	25	76

Cyclones Dominate Saint Louis, 76-48

12.16.2006 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Iowa State University

DES MOINES, Iowa ? The Iowa State women's basketball team played a near perfect first half, leading 51-17, and went on to defeat the Saint Louis Billikens, 76-48, on Saturday at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines in the Mediacom Cyclone Capital Classic.

The Cyclones turned in their fifth straight win to improve to 8-1 on the season, while Saint Louis, who was playing with a short bench due to injuries, dropped to 7-4 on the year.

Nicky Wieben, Alison Lacey and Toccara Ross all led the Cyclones in double digits. Wieben was close to a double-double with 18 points and a season-high nine rebounds. Lacey had the best game of her young ISU career, posting a career-high 15 points and six rebounds. Ross turned in her seventh double-digit scoring effort of the season with 10 point on 5-of-7 shooting.

“I was really proud of our team and our approach today,” head coach Bill Fennelly said. “I was concerned coming out of finals, playing at 11 a.m., in a new venue, but we were awake and ready to play. We probably played the best first half we've played in a while.”

Iowa State jumped out to a 34-point halftime lead, 51-17, behind 14 points by Wieben, 10 from Lacey and eight by Megan Ronhovde. The Cyclones shot 57.1 percent from the field and was 7-of-18 from three-point range in the opening period. All-America candidate Lyndsey Medders passed out 10 assists over the first 20 minutes.

The 34-point lead is ISU's largest since leading by 42, 56-14, against IPFW on Nov. 29, 2004. The 51 points in a half by Iowa State are the most for the Cyclones since scoring 56 in the second half of a 103-76 win over Colorado on Feb. 2, 2005.

The Cyclones opened the game on a 7-0 run, going 3-for-3 from the field, before the Billikens called a timeout and scored five straight points. ISU then ran off a 28-8 spurt that gave them a 21-point lead, 34-13, and the Cyclones continued to pour it on from that point.

In the second half, Saint Louis outscored ISU, 31-25, but it wasn't enough to overcome the large deficit the Billikens faced. Iowa State played all 13 eligible players for the second game this season and each ISU player saw eight minutes or more in a balanced effort.

For the game, Iowa State shot 48.4 percent from the floor. ISU finished 10-of-29 from three-point range and outrebounded SLU, 51-34. The Cyclones held Saint Louis to 26.4 percent shooting for the contest and a 7-of-37 mark from downtown for 18.9 percent.

The Cyclones will play one last game before the holiday break, playing host to Illinois State on Wednesday, Dec. 20, at 7 p.m. at Hilton Coliseum. Coming back from the break, ISU will host Colgate at 7 p.m., Dec. 28, and the American Family Insurance Cyclone Classic, Dec. 29-30, for three straight days of women's basketball at Hilton.