AMES, Iowa – Valencia Kelly scored 11 points in her regular-season debut, but Western Illinois dropped its season opener to No. 17 Iowa State by a 58-32 score on Saturday, Nov. 13 at Hilton Coliseum.
The Fighting Leathernecks (0-1) hung with the Cyclones (1-0) in the first half, but Iowa State outscored Western by a 27-6 margin in the second half to pull away.
"I was really proud of all our players tonight," said head coach Leslie Crane. "Everyone played with great heart and great intensity. Whether it was the starters or our players off the bench, there was no difference in the energy level they played with."
Iowa State led by as many as seven points early in the first half, but Western Illinois refused to go down easily, rallying back to pull within two points on Sadie Webb's jumper at the 12:06 mark.
The Cyclones would extend the lead to eight points with a pair of free throws in the final minute before Webb hit a three-pointer with 48 seconds remaining to make the score 31-26 at the break.
Iowa State would clamp down defensively in the second half, holding the Leathernecks to just one field goal in the first 17 minutes to put the game out of reach.
Western Illinois shot just 2-of-20 in the second half as the Cyclones went on an 18-0 run between the 16:35 and 3:41 marks to put the game out of reach.
"I thought offensively we played a very good first half," said Crane. "We got some great looks in both halves but unfortunately the shots just didn't fall in the second half and that was the big difference."
Kelly led the Leathernecks with 11 points on 3-of-9 shooting, including 2-for-5 from beyond the arc. The junior guard also added three free-throws, one assist and one steal.
Webb finished with eight points on 3-of-12 shooting and was 2-of-4 from the three-point line while pulling down four boards. Brittany Demery also grabbed four rebounds and scored four points.
Michele Salvatori netted in four points while Erica Lewis scored two. Anne Borgertpoepping scored three points, recorded two steals and dished out two assists while playing a team-high 33 minutes.
Bolte led the Cyclones with 25 points on 8-of-10 shooting, including a perfect 6-for-6 from beyond the arc. Iowa State shot 45.0% from the floor and 45.1% from three-point range while Western Illinois shot 25.5% from the floor and 26.3% from downtown.
"We did some really good things defensively tonight," said Crane. "Iowa State is one of the best teams that we'll face all year so to come in here and play the way we did especially in the first half really shows the character and heart that our team has."
Western Illinois returns to action when it plays host to Northern Illinois in the 2010-11 home-opener at 7 p.m. at Western Hall on Tuesday.
