Riley scores 32 on tearful senior night as No. 20 Cowgirls beat No. 13 Iowa State 78-70

No. 20 OSU tops No. 13 Cyclones 78-70

STILLWATER, Okla. — Andrea Riley scored 32 points, Tegan Cunningham added 20 and No. 20 Oklahoma State beat No. 13 Iowa State 78-70 on Wednesday night for its third straight win.

Riley, playing in her final home game, made a jumper from the right elbow and then set up Cunningham for a 3-pointer in the left corner as the Cowgirls (21-8, 9-6 Big 12) used a late 7-0 run to put the game away after Iowa State had eliminated a 10-point deficit.

Kelsey Bolte made six 3-pointers and scored 20 points to lead Iowa State (22-6, 10-5), which could have wrapped up the No. 2 seed in next week’s Big 12 tournament with a victory.

The Cyclones played without starting point guard Alison Lacey, their top scorer and the nation’s leader in assist-to-turnover ratio. She did not travel with the team because of an illness.

Iowa State fought back from a 10-point halftime deficit to tie the game at 57 on a pair of free throws by Chelsea Poppens with 8:59 to play but then went 4 minutes without scoring — its second extended drought of the game — as Oklahoma State rebuilt its lead.

After Megan Byford blocked a shot by Amanda Zimmerman that would have put the Cyclones ahead, Lakyn Garrison hit a 3-pointer to put OSU back on top. Riley followed with a fast-break layup off of an ill-advised crosscourt pass, and the Cowgirls would lead 65-57 after a run of eight straight points.

Bolte’s sixth 3-pointer got Iowa State within 65-62 with 4:07 remaining but Oklahoma State scored the next seven points to put the game out of reach. The Cowgirls have followed a five-game losing streak with three straight wins and set a school record with their fifth win against a ranked opponent this season.

Riley cried after being introduced in a pregame Senior Night ceremony, when she was honored as the team’s career scoring leader.

Anna Prins added 12 points and Whitney Williams and Poppens scored 11 apiece for the Cyclones, who had won 11 of their previous 14 games against OSU. Poppens also had a career-high 17 rebounds.

Poppens converted a three-point play to put Iowa State up 28-26 with with 6:50 to play in the first half, but the Cyclones didn’t score again before halftime. Toni Young scored six points in a row between a 3-pointer by Riley and Garrison’s 3 from the right wing with 4 seconds left that made it 38-28 at halftime.