Microsoft Outlook may be down, but Tjaša Turnšek was anything but. The freshman from Rogaška Slatina, Slovenia, made her presence felt with 20 points, 12 rebounds and five assists in Iowa State’s 77-55 win over Howard Thursday night.
Mya Babbitt hit four 3-pointers and scored 16 points. Alex-Anne Bessette scored a season-high 15 points.
Howard opened the game with a 3-pointer, but Ashleigh Connor responded with a triple for Iowa State and added another 90 seconds later. The Cyclones held the lead for the remainder
of the quarter, taking a 20-16 advantage into the second stanza.
Turnšek added three points early in the second quarter before both teams endured a scoring drought of over two minutes. Xiao Zhang broke the stretch with a jumper, and following a Howard basket, Bessette sank a 3-pointer to extend the lead to double digits at 28-18.
Howard answered with a triple, but Bessette drew a foul and converted two free throws. Sienna Harvey added a basket in the final 20 seconds of the quarter to give Iowa State a 38-27 lead at halftime.
Howard opened the third quarter with six straight points before Zhang stopped the run with a free throw. Harvey then came up with a steal and fed Turnšek for a layup to make it 41-33 at the 8:14 mark. After scoring stalled into the media timeout, Ezekiel Gift hit a jumper out of the break. Bessette later answered a Howard 3-pointer with one of her own to keep the Cyclones ahead 44-36 with 2:36 left in the third. Babbitt sank another triple with 35 seconds remaining in the quarter to build a 14-point advantage before Iowa State entered the fourth ahead 54-42.
The Cyclones face UIC Sunday at 5 p.m.
