Oklahoma State basketball: Cowgirls roll past Iowa State

The play ignited the Gallagher-Iba Arena crowd. It caused Cowgirl coach Jim Littell to leap out of his seat and pump his fist. He proclaimed it would be on the highlight reel at the end of the season.

And it perfectly captured the way the No. 17 Cowgirls used lockdown defense and fast-paced offense to roll past No. 24 Iowa State 71-42 Sunday afternoon at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

“I thought defensively it was as good as we've been in a long time around here,” Littell said. “Not only how we guarded, but how we stayed to the scout and knew where shooters were …

“Our defense definitely led to some transition (offense). We hadn't been running the ball as much lately. It was good to see (point guard) Tiffany Bias go out and have some fun.”

That fast-break bucket, which included a hockey assist from Bias before Lindsey Keller dished over a defender to Young for the score, was part of a Cowgirl 20-0 run that overlapped the first and second halves and turned the game into a blowout.

The defense consistently tightened, holding the Cyclones (13-3, 4-2 Big 12) scoreless for more than seven minutes to start the second half.

Then off of those missed shots or turnovers, Bias quickly got the Cowgirls into the offensive end, often finding Donohoe on the wing for an open 3 or another teammate streaking to the basket for the layup. She finished with 11 assists and was one of five players who scored in double figures.

As a team, the Cowgirls (14-2, 3-2 Big 12) scored 24 points off ISU turnovers and tallied 16 fast break points.