Cyclones snap skid, beat West Virginia ISU goes on 17-3 run to open second half

AMES - Iowa State Coach Bill Fennelly walked into the locker room and saw all smiles. After losing three straight games, getting any win felt pretty good.

'It doesn't save your season, but it probably got us off life support for a couple days,” Fennelly said.

Iowa State beat West Virginia, 61-43, last night in Hilton Coliseum. Guard Nikki Moody followed up her 30-point effort at Oklahoma with 14 points, 10 assists, three rebounds and just one turnover in the win.

It was the Cyclones' (15-7, 6-5 Big 12) tenacity on defense that shined brightest, as they held the Mountaineers (14-9, 4-7) to 29.3 percent shooting. Guard Brynn Williamson gave all the credit to the game planning from ISU coaches, and the ability of the players to thoroughly follow it.

'They couldn't get the shots they wanted and we made the people we wanted to shoot, shoot, and we rebounded pretty well, too,” said Williamson, who finished with 11 points and nine rebounds.

While West Virginia struggled to get going offensively, both teams had a hard time getting their first baskets to fall. A layup for Bria Holmes gave the Mountaineers a 2-0 lead after 3:24, and Iowa State went 0-for-6 shooting before a layup by Williamson went down after 4:11 elapsed.

Iowa State took a 25-20 lead into halftime. Fallon Ellis led the charge with 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting.

'That's the good thing about coming off the bench, you're seeing what needs to be done out there,” Ellis said.

Moody and Bryanna Fernstrom both spent time on the bench with two fouls in the opening period, and Williamson and Nicole Blaskowsky were a combined 1 for 8 from the field.

'You're sitting there at halftime thinking, ‘Wow, you're not in bad shape, really,'” Fennelly said.

Williamson knocked in a 3-pointer 21 seconds into the second half and Iowa State never looked back. A 17-3 run during the first 8:15 of the half put the Cyclones up 42-23, and the Mountaineers didn't get within 14 points during the rest of the game.

After two home losses last week to teams in the lower half of the Big 12, Iowa State's ability to get back in the win column was crucial.

'We made it a goal coming into this season we were going to be a lot better at home for our fans,” Williamson said. 'We needed this one really bad.”

l Comments: montzdylan@gmail.com