Cyclones Torch Detroit for 75-39 Win

Sunday, December 14

Ames, Iowa

2:00 PM

Iowa State

7-2

Detroit Mercy

2-6

Detroit

Iowa State

Cyclones Torch Detroit for 75-39 Win

12.14.2008 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: cyclones.com

AMES, Iowa ? The Iowa State women's basketball tied a school record with 18 three-pointers including eight by Heather Ezell as the Cyclones routed the University of Detroit Mercy 75-39 Sunday afternoon at Hilton Coliseum.

Ezell led the Cyclones with 24 points, all in the first half, going 8-for-16 from three-point range for the game. She hit all eight of her treys in the first half and went 0-for-5 in the second half. The eight three-pointers were her most since hitting eight against Kansas State in the Big 12 Championship quarterfinals last season. As a team, the Cyclones attempted a school-record 48 three-pointers, and six players contributed treys.

Complete Post-Event Coverage
Final Stats Notes Newsconference Photo Album		Quotes First Half Replay Second Half Replay

Ezell was the only Cyclone in double figures, but Alison Lacey and Nicky Wieben each contributed nine points apiece. Iowa State shot 38.4 percent from the field, but Detroit shot just 25 percent and 10.7 percent from long range (3-28). The Cyclone committed a season-low five turnovers, and added 25 assists on its 28 field goals. UDM outrebounded ISU, 44-42, but Lacey and Amanda Nisleit contributed seven boards each to lead ISU.

“Overall I was pleased,” ISU head coach Bill Fennelly said. “These are really hard games in the sense that our kids have finals starting tomorrow. It's been a tough week with the Iowa game and the Drake game. Detroit is a team on paper that we should beat and we hadn't faced that kind of zone all year. It was just weird. It's something we don't normally see. No one ever plays us zone.”

The Cyclones jumped out to an 11-0 lead as they torched the Detroit zone defense with three different ISU players hitting treys over the first three and a half minutes. They continued to expand that lead, 26-4, hitting eight of their nine first field goals from beyond the arc. Ezell went 5-for-5 from three-point range for 15 points in the first seven and a half minutes.

Detroit went on a 9-2 run to close the gap 30-13 as the Cyclones went through a scoring drought. The ISU offense quickly got back on track, however, as it answered with an 11-3 run, including three more treys from Ezell, giving her eight and the team 11 treys for the half. Iowa State took a 41-18 advantage into halftime.

Detroit committed 13 first-half turnovers, and the Cyclones scored 15 points off those miscues.

Detroit went on a 6-0 run coming out of the locker room to trim ISU's lead, 41-24, but the Cyclones found Wieben for a field goal and a conventional three-point play as Ezell hit her running the length of the court for a layin and the free throw to follow (46-24).

Lacey and Whitney Williams each struck from three-point range and Toccara Ross got back-to-back field goals to ignite a 15-2 Cyclone run to take a 61-29 lead. Anna Florzak knocked down a pair of treys in the final four and a half minutes as the Cyclones put the final touches on the win.

Iowa State will now take a week off for final exams and will return to the court next Sunday to face Minnesota at 2:30 p.m. at Hilton Coliseum.