Jan. 30, 2002
AMES, Iowa (AP) - Whatever it was that slowed Iowa State's offense in the first 20 minutes of its game with Missouri, the Cyclones found a cure at halftime.
No. 16 Iowa State got big games from its big three of Angie Welle, Tracy Gahan and Lindsey Wilson and hit Missouri with a 51-point second half in beating the Tigers 87-61 last night.
"We all kind of realized we needed to step it up," said Mary Cofield, who hit a 3-pointer to help get the Cyclones going. "We realized it was time to go and just take it from there. You hit a shot and then just run."
The Cyclones (16-5, 4-5 Big 12) ran away from Missouri to win back-to-back conference games for the first time this season. Missouri (12-7, 3-5) lost for the fourth straight time. Missouri Coach Cindy Stein said her team's youth was evident as it unraveled in the second half.
Missouri, which has only one senior, missed 26 of 36 shots in the half and never made a serious run at Iowa State, which steadily built its lead by making easy shots and free throws.
"It just came down to we have a young and inexperienced team out there, and we still haven't found our heart," Stein said. "We've got individuals that have heart that play really hard, but as a group, we've got to really come together.
"Sometimes we start playing not to make a mistake instead of playing to win. Unfortunately, that doesn't get you very far in the Big 12."
Missouri was sharp early, getting 10 points from Natalie Bright in building a 28-20 lead while frustrating Iowa State with its defense. The Cyclones managed only one basket during a stretch of nearly six minutes and three times had to force up a poor shot to beat the shot clock.
"Those aren't the looks you want, especially off the dribble," Gahan said. "It's kind of like you just throw it up there and hope it hits the rim. I just think we were standing around too much. We tried to prevent that in the second half."
They succeeded. Iowa State began scoring in transition and getting to the free- throw line. The Cyclones' first six field goals in the second half were layups or driving shots. They made their first 17 free throws in the half. They finished 24 of 31 at the line.
"We were more aggressive going to the basket, and that opened their defense up," said Gahan, who made three 3-pointers and scored 23 points.
Welle also scored 23. Wilson added 19 points, four assists and six steals.
Iowa State set the tone for its strong finish by ending the first half with a flurry, scoring eight points in the final 1:20 to erase Missouri's 33-28 lead.
Cofield and Wilson each hit a 3-pointer, and Welle scored inside with 10 seconds left to make it 36-33. Iowa State led the rest of the way.
"We kind of shut down," Bright said. "That hurt us. We were getting open shots in the first half. Then we let down, and the open shot wasn't there anymore."
Bright finished with 15 points, but only had two in the second half, when Iowa State extended its defense and began trapping the ball. Evan Unrau scored 13. Kerensa Barr, averaging 16.1 points, was held to seven points on 2-for-13 shooting.