BOULDER, Colo.—Defense came through for Iowa State on a day when free throws weren’t going through the hoop.
No. 21 Iowa State (18-4, 6-2 Big 12) held a fifth straight opponent to 50 points or less and defeated Colorado 53-47 Saturday, despite making just 4-of-13 shots from the foul line.
“Missing free throws in other games might cost us the game, but in this game we got lucky in missing that many free throws,” said guard Denae Stuckey.
Nicky Wieben scored 18 points to lead Iowa State to its fifth straight win. Heather Ezell added 11 points.
“Usually we’re able to step up there and knock down those free throws and we weren’t able to tonight, but then we were able to come down on the defensive end and get stops,” Ezell said.
Iowa State went on a 17-2 run early in the game to lead 24-8, and the Cyclones led by as many as 18 in the first half. Iowa led 31-22 at halftime.
Colorado (10-11, 2-7) cut the deficit to five early in the second half but could get no closer.
“It was a tough game to lose,” Colorado coach Kathy McConnell-Miller said. “When we went down 18 it was not what we wanted. We talked about the runs teams make on us, and we consistently have to recover from them. We did a lot to come back and we have to get to the point where we don’t allow teams to go on runs.”
Brittany Spears had 14 points and 12 rebounds for Colorado, and Alyssa Fressle scored 10 points.
