No. 13 Cyclones Reach Win 20 Over Missouri

AMES, Iowa ? The 13th-ranked Iowa State women's basketball team posted its 20th win of the season with a 55-42 victory over Missouri Saturday night at Hilton Coliseum. ISU won its seventh straight against Mizzou and improved to 20-5 overall and 8-4 in the Big 12.

The Cyclones reached 20 wins for the 10th time under head coach Bill Fennelly, the 11th time in school history. This is ISU's fourth straight 20-win campaign. Missouri dropped to 11-14 overall and 1-11 in the league.

On a night when ISU recognized the greatest player in school history, retiring the jersey of Angie Welle, senior Alison Lacey made her own mark on the Cyclone record book, becoming the only player in school history to record 1,500 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists in her career. She dished eight assists against the Tigers to accomplish the feat.

Freshman Chelsea Poppens recorded the third double-double of her career with 21 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. Lacey was also in double figures for the 23rd time this campaign, with 17 points and three rebound to go with her eight assists. Kelsey Bolte also finished in double figures with 11 points.

“First of all, it was nice to have #4 (Lacey) back,” ISU head coach Bill Fennelly said. “On a night when we honored one of the maybe the greatest player in Iowa State history, Chelsea Poppens looked like Angie Welle. I'm proud of our team for getting to 20 wins and being in the upper division of the Big 12. Aus (Lacey) and Pops (Poppens) were amazing and Denae got back to playing the way we are used to her playing. Those three kids were certainly the difference in the game”

After a red-hot first half, the Cyclones cooled off the in the second half to shoot 43.8 percent from the field for the contest. ISU hit just two three-pointers, one in each half. Iowa State held the Tigers to 33.3 percent shooting from the field and just two treys. Iowa State won the battle on the glass for the 22nd time this season with a 40-24 edge over Mizzou. RaeShara Brown and Shakara Jones each had 11 points to lead the Tigers.

The game started for Iowa State just as it did in Columbia, as Poppens scored 10 of ISU's first 12 points and the Cyclones got out to an 18-2 lead. Missouri went on an 8-2 run to make it a 10-point game, 20-10. Iowa State went more than eight minutes with just one field goal before Lacey took control and scored eight straight points to push Iowa State out to a 28-10 lead. The two teams traded baskets to send the Cyclones to the locker room with a 30-12 lead.

Lacey and Poppens each had 10 points at the break, and Poppens had eight boards. The Cyclones shot 54.2 percent from the field. ISU outrebounded Mizzou 21-10 at the break and the defense held the Tigers to 24 percent shooting and no treys.

Fennelly held his team on the court as the 1999-2000 Big 12 Championship team was honored at the half. Seven members of that team made it back to be recognized, including Erica Junod, Kelly Cizek, Monica Huelman, Megan Taylor, Welle and Erica Haugen.

“We hung her name (Welle) up there, but we will never be able to repay her for what she did for us,” Fennelly said. “It was fun to relive some of those memories tonight.”

Poppens scored ISU's first six points out of the locker room to give Iowa State a 36-14 advantage, but Missouri once again went on a 9-0 run, including seven points by Shakara Jones to draw the Tigers within 13, 36-23, with 11:34 to go in the contest. The Cyclones went 2-for-10 from the field to open the second half.

The Tigers closed the lead to 12 points, twice over the final six and a half minutes of the game, but Lacey got a steal and got a layup for Poppens to push Iowa State back out ahead by 17, 51-34. Brown drained the Tigers' second trey of the night with just over a minute remaining to make the final 13-point margin.

Iowa State will travel for a game at Kansas at 6 p.m. Thursday. The game will be televised by FSN.

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Team Stats

Chelsea Poppens

Alison Lacey

Kelsey Bolte

Amanda Zimmerman

Players Mentioned

Kelsey Bolte

Kelsey Bolte

Kelsey Bolte

Alison Lacey

Alison Lacey

Chelsea Poppens

Chelsea Poppens

Sponsors

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