Iowa State pleased with effort against Baylor

AMES, Iowa (AP) - Iowa State's second Big 12 loss of the season left the Cyclones feeling much better about themselves than the first one.

The Cyclones clawed and scrapped and made No. 1 Baylor earn everything it got in a 57-45 loss on Saturday night, a far cry for their dismal effort in an 80-51 loss at Oklahoma three nights earlier.

"I think we got some confidence in this game," center Anna Prins said. "I felt like we connected as a team. So we've just got to keep building from there and give that kind of effort in every practice, every game."

Prins' play was especially pleasing for the Cyclones. The 6-foot-7 junior missed the first five games after having arthroscopic knee surgery and had scored in double figures only once.

But she came through with her best game of the season against the best team on the Cyclones' schedule, scoring 17 points and grabbing six rebounds. Prins showed a nice touch on a couple of turnaround jumpers, one of which she hit over Baylor's 6-8 star, Brittney Griner. She also made a 3-pointer.

"I thought Anna played a great game," Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly said. "She was physical, she wanted the ball."

Lauren Mansfield added 10 points for Iowa State in one of her better games of the season.

But the Cyclones could do little with Griner, who scored 26 points, blocked four shots and intimidated the Cyclones on numerous other shots.

She also shut down 6-2 Chelsea Poppens, who came in averaging 14.5 points and leading the Big 12 in rebounding (11.7). Poppens grabbed eight rebounds and made a career-high six steals, but scored just two points on 1-for-7 shooting.

"I thought Poppens was the key tonight for us," Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said. "I thought we did a good job on her."

Iowa State (9-4, 0-2) led briefly in the first half, trailed by three at the break and was down just 26-24 when Nikki Moody hit a 3-pointer early in the second half.

But Baylor responded with a 10-0 run that included five points from Griner to open a 36-24 lead, and though the Cyclones kept threatening, that was enough of a cushion for the Lady Bears to hold on and protect their No. 1 ranking.

For Griner, it was a much more pleasant experience than her previous visit to Hilton Coliseum two years ago. She was held to 10 points in that one and Iowa State hit 16 3-pointers in blowing out the Lady Bears 69-45.

Iowa State was 6-for-16 from 3-point range in this one, shot 37 percent overall and missed several close-in shots early in the game.

"Offensive rebounds, free throws and our inability to shoot the ball were the big things," Fennelly said.

Baylor shot 21 free throws to Iowa State's nine and grabbed 15 offensive rebounds.

Iowa State clawed back from Baylor's early second-half run to draw to 41-36 on Prins' bucket inside with 9:43 left, and were still in it when Poppens hit a layup with 6:10 remaining. But that's as close as it would get down the stretch.

Griner scored five points and Jordan Madden, who scored 10 of her 11 points in the second half, got free for a layup in a 9-0 run that put it out of reach. Though she made just nine of 20 shots, Griner went 8-for-10 at the line and scored at key times.

"She's the most unique player I've ever seen," Fennelly said. "She's very well coached, she's competitive, she makes great plays at big times. Those kind of players don't come along very often, thank goodness. "She was the best player in Hilton (Coliseum) tonight. She will be in a lot of buildings."

Griner went scoreless in the first 5:35, then showed her versatility in hitting four straight shots - two turnaround jumpers, a baseline jumper and a hook - to put Baylor up 13-5. But she missed her next three and Iowa State got back in it by picking up its rebounding and keeping the Lady Bears away from the basket with a zone defense.

After managing just two baskets in the opening 10 minutes, Iowa State found its touch and ran off 10 straight points. Prins scored over Griner and hit a turnaround, and Mansfield knocked down two straight 3-pointers, putting ISU up 15-13.

Baylor pulled back ahead on Kimetria Hayden's 3-pointer a minute-and-a-half later and Iowa State never led again. Four Griner free throws and Sune Agbuke's layup stretched the lead to 24-17 before Amanda Zimmerman's free throw and Brynn Williamson's 3 drew Iowa State to 24-21 at the half.

[nggallery id=760]