AMES, Iowa – The Iowa State women’s basketball team swept all three instate Division I programs for the third straight season after knocking of Northern Iowa, 69-41, Tuesday night at Hilton Coliseum. ISU defeated Iowa and Drake on Dec. 5 and 9, respectively.
The Cyclones used a 45-24 rebounding advantage and a 16-6 margin at the charity stripe to defeat the Panthers. Iowa State found points from the inside and outside against UNI, as Nicky Wieben led the Cyclones with 17 points and Alison Lacey finished with 16, including nine from beyond the arc. Amanda Nisleit was ISU’s leading rebounder with 10 boards. Jacqui Kalin led UNI with 22 points.
“It’s always great to win your instate games,” head coach Bill Fennelly said. “It means a lot to us and to our fans. And to say we did it three years in a row, I think it speaks volumes for this team, because those were three really good teams.”
Iowa State shot 49 percent from the field, but struggled from outside, going 3-of-17 from long range. It was the Cyclones’ best shooting game since hitting 52 percent from the field against Sacramento State in the second game of the season. The Panthers shot 30.8 percent from the floor and also hit just three treys after knocking down a school-record 17 in their last contest. The two teams combined entered the game averaging 8.2 treys per game, and each team hit just three for the night.
After getting out to an early 20-9 lead on free throws by Wieben, the Cyclones took a 34-20 lead into halftime. The Panthers cut it to eight points, 21-13 with just over five minutes remaining in the first period, but Denae Stuckey got a steal and layup to build the lead, 30-15, with two and half minutes to go.
The Panthers came out of the locker room and scored immediately to cut the lead to 12, 34-22, but that was as close as UNI would get the rest of the way. The Cyclones took a 25-point advantage, 60-35, on a free throw by Toccara Ross.
Iowa State outscored UNI, 38-16, in the paint and 14-4 off turnovers. The Cyclone bench also outscored the Panthers, 19-6.
The Cyclones play their final game before the holiday break at Minnesota at 7 p.m. Friday. After the break, Iowa State will host the American Family Insurance Cyclone Shoot-Out, Dec. 28, 29 and 30, at Hilton Coliseum.
