Iowa State gets defensive, wins eighth straight

Iowa State turned the defensive intensity up to beat Oklahoma State, 49-42, on Saturday afternoon at Hilton Coliseum in Ames.

The victory was the eighth straight for Iowa State (10-3, 2-0 Big 12).

Nicole 'Kidd” Blaskowsky was given the assignment of slowing down OSU senior Brittney Martin, who came in averaging 24 points per game.

'Our main focus was Brittany Martin,” Iowa State Coach Bill Fennelly said. 'She's just killed us every time we've played them. We made sure we had a player-and-a-half on her.”

Led by Blaskowsky, Iowa State held Martin to six points. Her previous low was 12 in the season opener on Nov. 13.

'She's an All-American,” Blaskowsky said. 'You take a big name like that; you take pride in those things. The goal for me, I don't care how many screens I get hit by, I don't care how many shots she gets off, I'm going to get into her grill as much as possible.”

The Cowgirls shot just 32.1 percent (18 of 56) and had 17 turnovers against the Cyclone defense. Martin shot 3 of 9.

'For Kidd, she likes that challenge, to be honest with you,” Fennelly said. 'She's the one kid on our team that embraces that dirty work. She has struggled to shoot, so you try to give her something. This is a lot better than any shot. The emotion she brings to our team is really important.”

Oklahoma State led 28-21 in the third quarter before the Cyclones went on a 9-1 run.

Down 32-31 entering the final quarter, Seanna Johnson sparked Iowa State by scoring the first six points of the quarter. The junior scored nine of her 16 team-best points in the fourth quarter, and also had a big assist on a basket by Bryanna Fernstrom that put ISU up 44-40 with 1:23 left.

Iowa State put the game away at the free-throw line, hitting 22 of 25 for the game.

'Getting to the basket was important,” Johnson said. 'We shot 22 of 25. That's the key to winning games.”

Johnson had 13 rebounds to go with her 16 points for a double-double, the 23rd of her career and 10th this season. Bridget Carleton was the only other Cyclone in double-digit scoring with 11. Jadda Buckley had eight points and five assists.

The 49 points was the lowest offensive output in a win for Iowa State since scoring 48 against Kansas State in 2010.

Mandy Coleman had 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Kaylee Jensen had 10 points and 19 rebounds to pace Oklahoma State (11-2, 1-1).

Iowa State next travels to No. 5 Texas on Wednesday.