No. 24 Cyclones Earn Road Win at Texas Tech

Saturday, February 28

Lubbock, Texas

8:00 PM

Iowa State

21-7/9-5

Texas Tech

15-13/5-9

Team	1	2	F
Iowa State	22	37	59
Texas Tech	16	36	52

No. 24 Cyclones Earn Road Win at Texas Tech

02.28.2009 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: cyclones.com

LUBBOCK, Texas ? Senior Amanda Nisleit scored a career-high 19 points to lead the 24th-ranked Iowa State women's basketball team to a 59-52 win over Texas Tech at the United Spirit Arena Saturday night.

With the win, Iowa State improved to 21-7 overall and 9-5 in the Big 12. The Cyclones also finished off their slate with Big 12 South teams at an even 3-3 record. Texas Tech dropped to 15-13 overall and 5-9 in the league. It was ISU's second straight road win at Tech and the fourth consecutive victory over the Lady Raiders.

Complete Post-Event Coverage

Final Statistics

“I'm really proud of our team,” ISU head coach Bill Fennelly said. “We played really hard against a good team in a great environment. Any time you win against Texas Tech, it's a good win because they are a great program. We didn't shoot great, but we defended pretty well. To Tech's credit, they didn't give up and we kind of struggled down the stretch.”

Nisleit led the Cyclones with her 19 points, while grabbing seven rebounds. Heather Ezell scored 16 for ISU, including hitting three treys. Nicky Wieben added eight points and pulled down a team-high eight rebounds. The Cyclones shot 33.3 percent from the field and 32 percent from long range. Tech shot 27.6 percent from the floor and 20 percent from beyond the arc. The Lady Raiders outrebounded ISU, 44-39, and Tech was led by Dominic Seals' 16 points and 11 rebounds.

The Cyclones led 22-16 at the break after holding the Lady Raiders to 20 percent shooting and a 1-for-9 effort from beyond the arc. The Cyclones weren't much hotter, only shooting 30 percent from the field. ISU was 4-for-14 from long range.

Iowa State outscored Texas Tech 10-0 off second-chance points in the first half after outrebounding the Lady Raiders 24-19, including grabbing nine boards off the offensive glass.

Freshman Alexis Yackley hit ISU's second trey of the game with 12:39 to go to give the Cyclones an 8-6 advantage. Tech tied it up on free throws before Ezell finally found her three-point range, hitting back-to-back treys to open the Cyclones lead (16-10). Tech cut the lead to five (18-13) but Kelsey Bolte and Nisleit each scored to push ISU ahead by nine. Jordan Murphree hit Tech's only three-pointer of the half with 30 seconds left in the period to cut the halftime margin to six.

Seals drained her only three-pointer of the season to spark a 7-0 run by the Lady Raiders to start the second half, giving Texas Tech a 23-22 lead. Ezell hit a triple that started a 10-2 run by the Cyclones for a 32-25 advantage with 13:55 to go. After going 1-for-5 from the field to start the second half, ISU's shots started falling, hitting 4 of their next six.

Iowa State hit eight free throws, including six from Nisleit, as it went on a 15-2 run to go up by 18 (50-32) with 6:25 left. Tech rolled off six straight points to trim the lead to 12 (50-38). The Lady Raiders later went on an 8-0 run to close the margin to single digits (55-46) with two minutes to go. ISU hit the free throws at the end to hold off the Lady Raiders.

Iowa State will travel next to Missouri where the Cyclones will take on the Tigers at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. ISU will return home for its regular-season finale next Saturday against Kansas at 7 p.m. The Cyclone seniors will be honored following the game against the Jayhawks.