Iowa State women’s basketball: Cyclones defeat Kansas Jayhawks 72-69, ending two-game skid

The Iowa State women’s basketball team were finally able to avoid a close loss, picking up a much-needed win over Kansas 72-69 on Saturday night.

Mar 9, 2013; Dallas, TX, USA; Iowa State Cyclones forward Hallie Christofferson (5) drives against Kansas Jayhawks forward Chelsea Gardner (15) during the second half in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Conference tournament at American Airlines Center. Iowa State won 77-62. Mandatory Credit: Jim Cowsert-USA TODAY Sports

Hallie Christofferson wasn’t slowed down, doing it from both the field and at the free throw line for the Cyclones (17-7, 6-7). She had a team-high 29 points, her 14th game over 20 points this season. She went 9-of-21 from the field and 9-of-10 from the charity stripe.

Christofferson also had a team-high eight rebounds, tying Seanna Johnson. She was also the only Cyclone without a turnover.

Both teams shot very well early on, but the Jayhawks (12-14, 5-9) had a seven-point lead at half thanks to shooting 50 percent from 3-point range and making 56.7 percent of their shots from the field. But Iowa State prevailed at the end

From Cyclones.com:

"In a close game that featured 12 ties and eight lead changes, fouls would prove costly for the Jayhawks as Iowa State would earn trip after trip to the charity stripe, going 18-21 from the line in the second half.With too many great plays down the stretch to count, it was a costly travel by Kansas with 15.1 seconds on the clock as KU trailed by one. Christofferson then hit two big free-throws with :14 seconds left to put ISU up 72-69."

A tough stretch lays ahead for the Cyclones. They finally have their meeting with Baylor on the road Wednesday night, return back to Ames to host Texas, then two straight road trips to Oklahoma State and Kansas before returning home to face Baylor.

First thing’s first. The game against Baylor will tip-off at 7:00 PM Central time and will be televised on FOX College Sports.