Cyclones grind out ugly overtime win against last-place Missouri, 66-59

AMES - Missouri couldn't hang on.

So Iowa State's Hallie Christoffferson hung in.

Her 3-pointer in overtime helped the Cyclones overcome an off-night across the board Tuesday, leading to a grueling 66-59 Big 12 overtime win over last-place Missouri before 10,539 fans.

“I knew I was going to be open,” Christofferson said of her clutch 3-pointer with 2:30 left. “Had to shoot it with confidence.”

Most of the night, shooting brought about different feelings - until late.

The Cyclones (17-9, 8-7) scored just three points in the first 7:18, trailed more than 36 minutes of regulation, but led 57-54 after a 9-2 surge in the closing 1:59.

Cue the Tigers' Sydney Crafton, who banked in a 3-pointer with 3.7 seconds left.

That forced extra time, but ISU rolled up nine straight points while Missouri (11-15, 1-14) fumbled away three straight possessions.

ISU outscored the Tigers 23-9 in points off turnovers and 25-8 from the free throw line.

Missouri led by as many as 11 points and held the Cyclones to 23.3 percent field goal shooting before the break - a season low in a half.

“Most of it was kind of ugly,” said ISU ironwoman Chelsea Poppens, who notched her 13th double-double with 26 points and 16 rebounds. “A win is a win.”

Christofferson scored nine of her 13 points after halftime, including another clutch long-range basket that cut a four-point deficit to one with 1:40 left.

“That shot didn't win the game, but if she misses that, we don't score, you're in a foul mode - fouling, pressing,” said Cyclones coach Bill Fennelly, whose team won for the eighth time in 10 games.

Christofferson stayed hot from beyond the arc (48.8 percent the last 10 games), though, drilling three of six from deep, none bigger than the last two.

“You've got to be willing to miss that shot,” Fennelly said of Christofferson's late pressure-packed attempts. “A lot of people are like, ‘Well, if I pass it, it's not my fault.' You've got to have some onions, man, and be willing to take that thing and a lot of people don't.”