And down the stretch they come

11:13 left, second half, ISU 31, K-State 29

The Wildcats are shooting free throws from here on out, so the Cyclones have to watch their fouls.

11:09 Jumper ties the game at 31, but Wieben responds with a layup of her own, Cyclones by two. Seems like Iowa State is doing just enough to get by right now, but they need to watch out for KSU and the throws of desperation.

10:04 Wieben's second consecutive jumper. If she's heating up, the Wildcats need to look out. She can play with the best of them.

8:58 Medders with a sweet behind-the-back layup to give ISU a four-point lead. Deb Patterson, K-State's coach, called a timeout to stop the bleeding before it even started. Good strategy, as ISU put together two good possessions in a row. When Fennelly did that in the first half, it worked.

7:33 Lacey with a HUGE 3-pointer, and K-State wants another timeout. ISU leads by six, 41-35.

7:16 KSU answers right out of the timeout with a bucket. ISU by four.

6:58 Wieben buries a three pointer, and that one was for her mom, who told me before the game that she wanted Nicky to hit a three for her. Thanks to Daily photographer Ross LaDue, there's a picture of it. Iowa State matches its largest lead of the night at seven points.

6:43 The back-and-forth continues, as K-State earns an and-one, responding to Wieben's three. Where was all this scoring earlier in the game?! 44-39 Iowa State leads.

5:38 Medders buries a three and all is right with the world. Iowa State takes its biggest lead of the night at eight points.

5:00 A ref just changes a reaching foul to a jump ball. Gotta love it when the referees are confident with their officiating.

3:38 A fanatically chaotic flurry of events gives Kansas State four cracks at a shot on offense. The fourth time apparently was the charm, and a layup cuts Iowa State's lead to six points at 49-43.

3:07 Amanda Nisleit with an and-one. She doesn't score often, but man, it seems like when she does, it's HUGE. She's always scoring the basket of her life. Iowa State up by eight after a missed free throw.

2:26 Wieben puts one down and draws a foul. After scoring just four points in the first half, she's exploded in the second half, rolling off 12 so far. ISU by 11 points, and starting to pull away.

1:31 Kansas State throwing up desperation threes from five feet behind the line. Even when it has open looks. Two free throws cut the lead to nine with 90 seconds left.

With about a minute left and Medders at the line, this game is all but wrapped up. Nebraska is all smiles behind me, looking ahead to tomorrow's game against the Cyclones. Tipoff is 2:30 pm, but rest assured there will be a few more blog entries by that time.

It was a rough start, but Iowa State came alive when it needed to, and did just enough to get by with a win. The Cyclones won't be as lucky tomorrow against Nebraska, and it should be a good game.

Check out tomorrow's Iowa State Daily, or go to iowastatedaily.com for continuing coverage of the Big 12 Tournament.

Game over, Cyclones win 57-45 in a game much closer than the score indicated. Thanks for your continued support, and be sure to check back later tonight for more updates.