AMES, Iowa – Chelsea Poppens scored 17 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and Hallie Christofferson added 14 points as Iowa State pulled away in the second half for a 66-47 Big 12 victory over Kansas Wednesday in Hilton Coliseum. The win moves Iowa State (15-9 overall, 6-7 Big 12) into a tie with the Jayhawks (17-8 overall, 6-7 Big 12) for fifth-place in the Big 12 standings.

Iowa State trailed 23-21 at halftime before the Cyclones scored the first 14 points of the second half. When Christofferson hit the Iowa State’s third 3-pointer since halftime the Cyclones led 35-23 with 15:42 remaining. Moments earlier, Poppens had run down a loose ball, drove from halfcourt to the basket and finished on a layup that nearly brought the Hilton crowd to its feet. Poppens’ performance marked his 19th double-double this season.

Chassidy Cole was the catalyst for Iowa State’s 45-24 second-half surge, finishing with eight points, a career-high 11 assists, and eight rebounds.

The game started well for Iowa State. The Cyclones led 15-6 with 11:45 left in the first half after Poppens made her second consecutive basket. Another Poppens bucket gave Iowa State a 21-14 advantage with just 2:56 to go. It was then that Kansas found its mark. Aishah Sutherland, who had 12 first-half points, made the shot that tied the game, 21-21 with 1:16 to go. Monica Engleman’s jumper with 24 seconds left gave the Jayhawks a 23-21 lead at intermission. KU scored nine unanswered points in the final 2:56 of the first half. Sutherland led Kansas with 19 points and nine rebounds.

Iowa State’s biggest enemy was itself as 11 turnovers plagued the Cyclone first half offensive effort and offset Iowa State’s rebound advantage of 27-11. Iowa State had an overall rebounding advantage of 38-22. The final rebound margin was the Cyclones’ best in Big 12 play this season. Iowa State committed just four second-half turnovers.

Iowa State plays host to Oklahoma Saturday at 7 p.m. CST in Hilton Coliseum on Mediacom.

IRVING, Texas -The Iowa State men’s basketball team produced a league-high four players on the 2012 Academic All-Big 12 team, the conference office announced today.

Scott Christopherson, Melvin Ejim and Bubu Palo were named Academic All-Big 12 First Team. Chris Allen was a second-team selection.

First team members consist of those who have maintained a 3.20 or better GPA, and the second team are those who have a 3.00-3.19 GPA. Student-athletes must maintain a 3.00 GPA or higher either cumulative or the two previous semesters and must have participated in 60 percent of their team’s scheduled contests to qualify.

Iowa State head coach Fred Hoiberg, an Academic All-American and three-time Academic All-Big Eight pick during his Iowa State playing career, is extremely proud of his team’s efforts in the classroom.

“Academics has always been and always will be an important part of our program,” Hoiberg said. “The guys have been working hard in the classroom and it’s great to see the Cyclones so well-represented on the Academic All-Big 12 teams. We have set GPA records in our last three semesters and we want to continue that success academically.”

Christopherson, a senior from LaCrosse, Wis., is Iowa State’s career leader in 3-point field goal percentage (43.5 pct.) and currently ranks fifth nationally in free-throw percentage at 90.8 percent. A native of Toronto, Ontario, Ejim has started 21 games, averaging 8.9 points and ranking second on the team in rebounding at 6.4 rpg.

Palo, who hails from Ames, Iowa, is averaging 2.0 assists per game for the Cyclones. He recorded a career-high 14 points vs. Iowa and has two games with six or more dimes on the season. Allen, a native of Lawrenceville, Ga., is averaging 12.3 points and leads the team with 59 3-pointers.

Palo was a second team pick last season.

It marks the second time in school history where the Cyclones had three players on the Academic All-Big 12 First Team (1997- Ha-Keem Abdel-Khaliq, Klay Edwards, Jason Teeter).

The Atlantic Trojan Wrestling team earned a third place finish at the 2A State Dual Wrestling Championships on Wednesday, February 15th at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.  In their first dual the Trojans defeated Denver-Tripoli 39-33.  In the Semi-finals Atlantic fell to West Delaware 46-10.  The Trojans then finished the day with a win in the third place dual 43-25 over Creston Orient-Macksburg.

Third Place Match Results:

In Class 1A the Underwood Eagles were state runner-ups.  The Eagles opened the day by defeating Alburnett 41-27.  Underwood then defeated West Branch 46-23 in the semi-finals.  The Eagles then finished the day by falling to Nashua-Plainfield 53-16 in the 1A Championship dual.

Championsip Match Results:

Congratulations to the area teams on their great finish at the State Team Dual Wrestling Championships.  The traditional State Wrestling Tournament begins Thursday, February 16th and continues through Saturday, February 17th.  We will have live updates from Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines throughout the three day event.  Report times are listed on the top portion of the sports page.

1A Results
1st Place – #3 Nashua-Plainfield
2nd Place – #5 Underwood
3rd Place – #8 West Branch
4th Place – #2 Don Bosco, Gilbertville
5th Place – #6 Woodbury Central, Moville
6th Place – #1 Clarion-Goldfield
7th Place – #4 Alburnett
8th Place – #7 Martensdale-St. Mary`s
1st Place Match
#3 Nashua-Plainfield defeated #5 Underwood 53-16.
3rd Place Match
#8 West Branch defeated #2 Don Bosco, Gilbertville 39-30.
5th Place Match
#6 Woodbury Central, Moville defeated #1 Clarion-Goldfield 34-30.
7th Place Match
#4 Alburnett defeated #7 Martensdale-St. Mary`s 54-30.

2A Results
1st Place – #1 Assumption, Davenport
2nd Place – #2 West Delaware, Manchester
3rd Place – #6 Atlantic
4th Place – #4 Creston Orient-Macksburg
5th Place – #8 Webster City
6th Place – #7 Spirit Lake Park
7th Place – #5 Charles City
8th Place – #3 Denver-Tripoli
1st Place Match
#1 Assumption, Davenport defeated #2 West Delaware, Manchester 32-30.
3rd Place Match
#6 Atlantic defeated #4 Creston Orient-Macksburg 43-25.
5th Place Match
#8 Webster City defeated #7 Spirit Lake Park 45-31.
7th Place Match
#5 Charles City defeated #3 Denver-Tripoli 52-26.

3A Results
1st Place – #2 Bettendorf
2nd Place – #4 West Des Moines Valley
3rd Place – #3 Iowa City West
4th Place – #8 Waverly-Shell Rock
5th Place – #7 Ankeny
6th Place – #5 Linn-Mar, Marion
7th Place – #6 Prairie, Cedar Rapids
8th Place – #1 Southeast Polk
1st Place Match
#2 Bettendorf defeated #4 West Des Moines Valley 75-6.
3rd Place Match
#3 Iowa City West defeated #8 Waverly-Shell Rock 66-8.
5th Place Match
#7 Ankeny defeated #5 Linn-Mar, Marion 50-16.
7th Place Match
#6 Prairie, Cedar Rapids defeated #1 Southeast Polk 32-31