Cyclones face crucial February stretch

AMES - Forget one day at a time.

Try a month.

That's the approach the Iowa State women's basketball team has adopted for February and so far it's reaped sterling results.

The Cyclones are 3-0 this month entering Sunday's 1:30 p.m. tip at Texas Tech - with all three wins coming by double-digit margins.

“It's all on February,” forward Hallie Christofferson said.

Good timing.

ISU has won five of its past six games and stands 17-7 overall and 5-6 in Big 12 play.

Evening the conference mark would allow for a welcome mental restart.

The Cyclones dropped their first five Big 12 games before the recent surge.

“It's very important just knowing where we've been and where we're at now,” said Christofferson, who's shooting 50 percent from 3-point range in the past six games. “Just knowing that we can compete with all these teams, when at the beginning maybe it didn't seem like it. But now we're rolling, we're on a winning streak.”

Christofferson's performances over the past month or so provides one of several reasons for ISU's climb back into contention for a postseason bid.

Teammate Lauren Mansfield's been hot, too - nailing 5 of 8 3-pointers in Wednesday's win at Missouri.

And when Mansfield wasn't on in last Sunday's win over Texas, she dished out 11 assists while turning the ball over just once.

“I think everyone just feels a lot more positive,” Mansfield said. “I think we're just licking well, games are flowing for us better and we have more confidence. We have that inside play as well as outside and we're playing with more passion.”

The Red Raiders (16-7, 4-7) will likely be playing with anger Sunday.

ISU trounced Tech 66-49 on Jan. 22 at home, setting their streak of five wins in six games in motion.

The Red Raiders, meanwhile, have lost seven of their last nine - three by four points or less.

“I know that they're going to come in hard,” said Cyclone forward Chelsea Poppens, who's recorded double-doubles in three straight games. “We've just got to see that and come in and play our best.”