Iowa State Women’s Basketball: Cyclones Clinch #2 Seed in Big 12 Tournament

In another exciting game at Hilton Coliseum featuring more referee controversy, three technical fouls, and a fan being ejected, the Iowa State women’s basketball team come back in a thrilling 73-70 victory over Oklahoma State. The Cyclones finish 21-7 overall this season with a 12-6 record in the Big 12, good enough to clinch the 2-seed in the upcoming conference tournament.

Mar 17, 2012; Ames, IA, USA; Green Bay Phoenix guard Julie Wojta (32) guards Iowa State Cyclones forward Hallie Christofferson (5) during the second half in the first round of the 2012 NCAA women

Iowa State was down by as much as 13 in the second half. Their wild finish featured a couple of technical fouls called on both coaches. Bill Fennelly was called for a technical and then a fan from the front row was ejected as the refs called over an officer to escort him out. The crowd gave the fan a round of applause as he left the arena. Cowgirls’ coach Jim Littell was called for a technical with under a minute to go, giving the Cyclones two crucial free throws to essentially clinch the game.

Hallie Christofferson led the team with 21 points and six rebounds, also going a perfect 7-7 from the free throw line. This was her 10th game with 20 or more points this season, and she also became the 19th Cyclone to hit over 100 career 3-pointers nailing two of them to extend her tally to 101.

Iowa State went 19-20 from the charity stripe in the game as a team and rebounded with 6-8 shooting from 3-point range after starting off 2-10 in the second half.

The Cyclones will have a first-round bye in the tournament and will play the winner of the TCU/Kansas game on Saturday night at 6:00 p.m. CT in Dallas. It will be televised on FSN.