AMES, Iowa – Indiana State gave No. 8/9 Iowa State all it could handle in the first half Thursday night inside Hilton Coliseum, before the homestanding Cyclones pulled away over the final 20 minutes to defeat the Sycamores 64-42.
 
Deja Jones and Keslyn Secrist led the Sycamores with 12 points each, with Secrist also pulling down seven rebounds. Chloe Williams had nine points and seven rebounds in her first career start, while Savannah White grabbed a team-high eight boards.
 
Indiana State led after the opening quarter as Williams and Secrist combined for 10 points in the opening 10 minutes while the Sycamore defense stifled Iowa State early. Jones kept the Trees on pace with the eight points in the second quarter, though a late Cyclone run gave the home side a seven-point lead at the break. Iowa State used a 10-0 run to start the third quarter to finally pull away, with Indiana State struggling to convert on the offensive end. Despite a strong effort on the road, the Sycamores fell in their first game against a top-10 opponent since 2011.
  
First Half
Secrist connected on a midrange jumper for the first points of the game, and Williams converted a three-point play to give the Trees an early lead. Another basket from Secrist midway through the first quarter kept Indiana State ahead, and the Sycamores tacked on buckets from Saige Stahl and Jones in the paint to make it 13-10. Iowa State came back to take the lead late, but Williams put the Sycamores ahead 16-14 after the first quarter with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.
 
Williams continued her strong start with an early second quarter basket, and Jones took off in the scoring column to close the half. After Iowa State built a four-point lead, Jones connected on a jumper and added a 3-pointer to give the Sycamores a 23-22 lead midway through the quarter. Iowa State came back to retake the lead, but Jones answered with another trey to level the score at 26-26. The Cyclones went on a 9-0 run late in the half, but Secrist made a layup at the buzzer to send the Sycamores to the intermission trailing by just seven, 35-28.
 
Second Half
Iowa State seized momentum in the third quarter, as the Sycamores struggled to find a rhythm on the offensive end. The Cyclones started the period with a 10-0 run before Secrist ended the Sycamores' scoring drought with a midrange jumper. Free throws from Queen Ruffin and Stahl pulled the Trees closer, and Secrist connected on a jumper inside the final minute, but Indiana State went into the fourth trailing 54-36.  
 
The home side extended its lead to 24 early in the fourth quarter, before Secrist converted a pair of free throws to end the run. Baskets from Savannah White and Jones got the deficit down to 60-42 at the midway point of the quarter. Indiana State limited Iowa State to just four points over the final five minutes, but the Sycamores couldn't pull closer as the eighth-ranked Cyclones won by a 64-42 margin.
 
News and Notes

• Deja Jones' 12 points and two 3-pointers were both career-highs, and she also matched her career high of five field goals.
• Chloe Williams tallied a career-best three blocks and tied her career high of seven rebounds in Thursday's game.
• Keslyn Secrist scored in double-figures for the second straight game to begin the season, the first time in her career with back-to-back double-digit scoring games. Secrist leads the team with 16.5 points per game through the first two games.
• Iowa State was one of the top 3-point shooting teams in Division I last season, but Indiana State limited the Cyclones to a 22.2 percent clip (8-for-36) from behind the arc Thursday. Indiana State also held Iowa State under 30 percent from the field for the game.
• Indiana State has led after the first quarter in each of its first two games this season. The Sycamores led 16-14 over Iowa State after the opening 10 minutes of play.
• Thursday's game was Indiana State's first against a top-10 since Nov. 13, 2011 at No. 2 Notre Dame.
• Queen Ruffin and Chloe Williams made their first start in an Indiana State uniform in Thursday's game. For Williams, it was the first start of her collegiate career.

 
Up Next
Indiana State closes its early two-game road trip Tuesday night at Wright State, with tipoff set for 7 p.m.
 
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