By Scott Nulph
Enquirer contributor

AMES, Iowa - The Miami RedHawks were right where they wanted to be in their Women's National Invitation Tournament second-round game at Iowa State Friday night.

Iowa State's Mary Fox, right, and Miami's Kim Lancaster chase a loose ball. (AP photo)

They trailed by only a point with nine minutes remaining on a basket by Cindi Merrill.

Who knew they wouldn't score again until there were 24 seconds left in the game?

Iowa State used an improbable 15-0 run over the final nine minutes to beat the RedHawks 71-57 before 4,478 fans inside Hilton Coliseum in a game that was far closer than the final score indicated.

The Cyclones (17-14) advance to host a WNIT quarterfinal game Thursday.

Miami ends its season at 22-9.

"We did a great job of running our offense and getting the looks we wanted," Miami coach Maria Fantanarosa said. "We just ran out of game in the second half. Our shots started to get a little shorter. That was probably the biggest reason (for not scoring at the end of the game.)"

Part of the problem might have been Miami not getting to Ames until around 11:30 p.m. Thursday after beating Xavier 77-65 in the first round of the tournament Wednesday. ISU also played Wednesday, beating Idaho State at home 72-59

The RedHawks seemed to have little trouble with Iowa State's 2-3 matchup zone and held a lead in the game with 13 minutes left. But the shots just stopped falling, and the Cyclones scored enough to pull away. After Merrill's basket, the RedHawks missed their next 16 shots, with Kim Smith finally ending the drought with 18 seconds left. But by that time Iowa State's lead had grown to 16.

MIAMI (22-9) - Jackson 4-13 0-1 10, Motto 1-6 0-0 3, Merrill 4-12 3-3 11, Day 6-9 5-8 17, Lancaster 3-10 0-0 6, Ntumba 0-0 0-0 0, Beck 1-2 0-0 3, Kozlowski 0-5 0-0 0, Smith 3-6 1-2 7, Burke 0-0 0-0 0, Miller 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 22-64 9-14 57.

IOWA STATE (17-14) - Junod 1-5 1-2 4, O'Neil 1-7 11-12 13, Medders 4-9 5-5 14, Ronhovde 5-8 1-2 15, Kriener 1-1 3-6 5, Fox 4-11 0-0 12, Robinette 1-4 0-0 2, Paustian 0-0 0-0 0, Wilkins 3-4 0-0 6. Totals: 20-49 21-27 71.

Halftime: MU 31, IS 29. 3-pointers: MU 4-20 (Jackson 2-5, Motto 1-6, Merrill 0-3, Day 0-2, Beck 1-1, Kozlowski 0-3), IS 10-26 (Junod 1-3, O'Neil 0-3, Medders 1-3, Ronhovde 4-7, Fox 4-10). Rebounds: MU 37 (Day 9), IS 38 (Kriener 11). Assists: MU 12 (Motto 4), IS 16 (Medders 5). Officials - Stromgren, Herke, Sykes. Technical fouls - None. Attendance - 4,478.