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Christofferson Leads Cyclones Past Oklahoma State, 73-52

Sports

February 2nd, 2012 by Jim Field

AMES, Iowa – Lauren Mansfield got Iowa State going early in the second half as the Cyclones (12-8 overall, 3-6 Big 12) pulled away from Oklahoma State (12-6 overall, 4-5 Big 12) early and beat the Cowgirls 73-52 Wednesday in Hilton Coliseum.

Hallie Christofferson led four Iowa Staters in double figures with 20 points, her third career 20-point performance. Anna Prins had 16 points and a season-high eight rebounds, seven in the first half. Nikki Moody scored 13 points and scored five rebounds and Chelsea Poppens tallied 11 points and a game-high 16 rebounds for Iowa State.

Toni Young led Oklahoma State with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Iowa State held a 30-28 lead at the half but a pair of Mansfield threes in the first two-and-a-half minutes of the second half pushed the advantage to 39-30 and the Cyclones never looked back. Oklahoma State countered with just one basket in the first nine minutes of the second half.

Neither team played particularly well in the first half. The Cyclones hit on just 9-of-33 shots but did swish four threes to offset Oklahoma State’s slightly better accuracy (12-of-33) from the field. Young was the go-to player for the Cowgirls, scoring the last eight points of the first stanza for OSU.  Iowa State had only two first-half turnovers and was getting good looks at the basketball but the shots were not falling before the half.

The Cyclones committed a season-low eight turnovers and dished out 16 assists. Chassidy Cole led the Cyclones with six assists and no turnovers.

Iowa State plays host to Texas Saturday at 1 p.m. CST in Ames.