Poppens dominates, Cyclones cruise past TCU

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AMES — To steal a line from our old friend and former Iowa State football coach Dan McCarney, “there’s no doubt about it.” 

There is no doubt about this Cyclone Nation: Chelsea Poppens is one of the all-time greats.

While the Iowa State women’s basketball team struggled to put the ball in the basket during the first half of Saturday’s 68-52 win over TCU, Poppens did what Poppens generally does. That’s hustle, snag offensive rebounds, make them count and rack up a crazy stat line.

No. 33 has played some great games during her days at Iowa State but this was one of the more special ones. Poppens’ night ended with 24 points and 15 rebounds (six of them on the offensive end), the fourth 20-15 game of her career. She didn’t play throughout the last seven minutes of the contest either. 

"I think I just got on a roll. My energy stayed the same," said Poppens. "Nikki (Moody) got me open looks when I needed them. Brynn (Williamson) got me open looks when I needed them. All of the credit goes to them."

Poppens’ head coach Bill Fennelly gave her plenty of props though. 

"There is a WNBA scout here that watched the game and said, ‘that’s kind of how she plays.’ The game ends and she has 24 points and 15 rebounds," said Fennelly. "You don’t really remember one shot that she made. The rebound on the free throw, those things just don’t happen unless you are busting it."

Poppens went 5-for-9 from the field in the first half while her teammates combined to go 6-for-19. Hustle never has an off night. It was the fourth 20 and 15 game of Poppens’ career. She also grabbed the 900th rebound of her career in the victory. 

"I wish I could take credit for that," said Fennelly. "It’s all effort. It’s timing. It’s effort. It’s ‘I’m going to get the damn ball.’ That’s all it is."

Overall, the Cyclones bounced back nicely and improved to 3-1 in the Big 12 after losing to top-ranked Baylor by a  67-39 final on Wednesday night. Multiple players chipped in, as Iowa State recorded 17 offensive rebounds as a whole while scoring 16 second chance points. The Cyclones out-rebounded TCU 44-25. 

Hallie Christofferson scored 14 points, hitting four 3-pointers along the way. Nikki Moody dished out nine assists. Anna Prins scored eight points with 10 rebounds. 

Up next for Iowa State is a home date with Oklahoma on Tuesday at 7 p.m.