Cyclones Advance With 59-55 Win Over Texas

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. ? Alison Lacey scored a season-high 25 points as Iowa State overcame the absence of injured All-Big 12 second teamer Heather Ezell to defeat Texas, 59-55, Friday evening at the Big 12 Championship. The Cyclones advanced to the semifinals of the Big 12 Championship for the third consecutive season.

Ezell missed Friday's game with a hand injury and is day-to-day. The third-seeded Cyclones (24-7) advance to face second-seeded Baylor Saturday at 2:30 p.m. The game will be televised by FSN.

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Lacey drilled 5-of-6 3-pointers en route to her season-high. The junior also grabbed a team-best nine rebounds while playing 39 of the 40 minutes.

Kelsey Bolte finished with 12 points and Nicky Wieben chipped in 10 for the Cyclones, who held the Longhorns to just 32.8 percent shooting from the field.

The game was a back-and-forth affair with 17 lead changes and nine ties. Iowa State's biggest lead of the game was six with 19 seconds remaining while Texas' largest advantage was just three points.

The first half was tight throughout with three points being the biggest margin for either team. ISU scored the final five points of the half to go into the break with a 27-23 edge.

Whitney Williams came off the bench to nail a three-pointer and give ISU a 10-7 lead nearly eight minutes into the game. Texas regained the lead at 13-12 on a jumper from Brittainey Raven, but Lacey responded with a long ball to push the Cyclones back in front 15-13.

After Erika Arriaran knocked in a jumper to tie it at 15-15, both teams went cold with no scoring for nearly four minutes. Texas' Yvonne Anderson broke the drought with a bucket and Lacey nailed her third three-pointer of the half to give ISU the lead back. Texas went on to score the next four points but ISU outscored the Longhorns 9-2 over the final 4:30 of the half to go into the break with the four-point edge.

Texas struggled from the field in the opening stanza, shooting just 30 percent (9-30) while ISU was hindered by seven first half turnovers. The Cyclones hit five threes in the opening period, including 4-of-4 from Lacey who finished with 14 points.

The Cyclones and Longhorns answered each other blow-for-blow early in the second frame with ISU holding a 36-33 edge following a three-pointer by Amanda Nisleit. Two minutes later Raven pushed Texas on top with a long ball making it 39-38. The lead switched hands five times over the next three minutes before Bolte knocked down a jumper and Denae Stuckey hit 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to put ISU in front 44-43 with 7:50 remaining.

As was the norm for the game, Texas responded scoring five straight, including back-to-back buckets from Ashleigh Fontenette to go up 48-45 with just under five minutes left.

After Lacey knocked down a bucket and Arriaran responded with a baseline jumper of her own, Stuckey hit just her second three-pointer of the season to tie it up at 50-50.

The teams then traded free throws before Bolte came up with two huge plays for the Cyclones. The sophomore knocked down a jumper to give ISU a two-point cushion and blocked a driving Raven to preserve the lead.

The Cyclones nailed their free throws the rest of the way to advance to the semifinals for the third consecutive year. ISU has now won at least one game in the tournament in 12 of its 13 years, more than any other Big 12 team.

Texas was led by Fontenette's 13 points. Raven and Earnesia Williams had 11 and 10 points, respectively.

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Team Stats

Alison Lacey

Kelsey Bolte

Nicky Wieben

Amanda Nisleit

Players Mentioned

Kelsey Bolte

Kelsey Bolte

Kelsey Bolte

Heather Ezell

Heather Ezell

Alison Lacey

Alison Lacey

Alison Lacey

Amanda Nisleit

Amanda Nisleit

Denae Stuckey

Denae Stuckey

Denae Stuckey

Nicky Wieben

Nicky Wieben

Whitney Williams

Whitney Williams

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