Cyclone women shut down Fairfield at home
AMES (ISU) — The Iowa State women’s basketball team finally came out of its post-holiday haze in the second half against Fairfield, going on a 16-0 run out of the locker room as the Cyclones earned a 67-37 win over Fairfield Wednesday night. Iowa State won the Cyclone Challenge, going 2-0, in the last two days at Hilton Coliseum.
Senior Alison Lacey and junior Kelsey Bolte led the way for the Cyclones with 21 points each. Whitney Williams also had nine points in the win for ISU.
Iowa State put up a much better effort on the glass in the win over Fairfield, outrebounding the Stags 47-17. The Cyclones shot 42.9 percent from the field and got their 3-point shooting back on track with and eight for the game.
The ISU defense held Fairfield to 31.3 percent shooting for the contest, including a 21.7 percent mark in the second half.
The Cyclones struggled in the first half, trailing by as many as five points on two different occasions. After taking a 13-10 ISU lead, Fairfield countered as three players scored in an 8-0 run for an 18-13 Stag advantage. The two teams traded scores, before the Cyclones finally put together 10 unanswered points, including six by Bolte to swing the momentum ISU’s way (25-20).
Lacey hit on back-to-back layups for a 31-25 Cyclone edge, before Fairfield scored the final points of the period to close the margin to four points at the break (31-27). Bolte finished the half with 15 points, while Lacey had nine points, four rebounds and three assists. The Cyclones finished the half shooting 44 percent from the field, despite going 1-for-7 from the field to open the game.
The Cyclones finally gained control of the contest over the opening minutes of the second half. Lacey scored 10 straight points coming out of the locker room and Whitney Williams hit a pair of treys to open a 47-27 ISU lead. The Cyclone defense held Fairfield scoreless over the first seven minutes of the period and Williams drilled her third straight trey after the Stags finally got on the board with a Desiree Pina score.
Fairfield never got closer than 17 points and the Cyclones led by as many as 30 the rest of the way. Iowa State held the Stags to just 10 points in the second half.
Iowa State will next take the court Sunday against Lafayette College. The Cyclones will play host to the Leopards at 6 p.m. at Hilton Coliseum. The ISU men will begin the day at Hilton by facing Houston at 1 p.m.
