It’s a surprise Danielle McCray didn’t sell popcorn at the concession stands in Allen Fieldhouse at halftime yesterday afternoon against No. 21 Iowa State.

She did about everything else.

McCray scored 24 points, a few more than her average. They came in mostly the same way they have all season: pull-up jumpers from the right and left wing in the eyes of her defender.

But it was her 16 boards and defensive effort that truly showed she dominated from the opening tip. She had three steals and three blocks and took a charge in the second half with the outcome still well up in the air.

“I thought her focus and energy was better, she just hasn’t had much energy defensively,” coach Bonnie Henrickson said.

McCray said she decided to make a change to give more effort on the defensive end because against good teams such as Iowa State there is no room for error. One missed assignment on a screen can end up in three points.

“I think we did a great job of staying focused and talking and communicating and making them feel rushed the whole game,” McCray said.

McCray said that earlier in the year, she “couldn’t transfer” from offense to defense. Missed shots on the offensive end would bother her on the defensive end. Against Iowa State, she focused on both sides of the ball.

“It was kind of hard to do the two,” McCray said. “But then I just had to relax, forget about the shot that I missed and come back down and play defense.”

McCray also showed a lot of patience on the offensive end. Henrickson said she took two bad shots in the entire game. McCray thought it was just “one three towards the end” that she rushed, but the sentiment was clear.

“I let everything come to me,” McCray said.

However, McCray did not, and will not, shy away from attacking the hoop with the game on the line.

“When you need a basket, you can’t just let it come to you,” McCray said about clutch situations. “You gotta go get it.”

With just under five minutes left and the game tight, McCray went and got it. She took a charge on one end, hit a tough jumper over Iowa State’s Danae Stuckey on the next possession, and rebounded an Iowa State miss back on defense. The shot was big, but the two stops on the defensive end were bigger.

Both Henrickson and McCray agreed that the energy of the larger crowd helped in the defensive effort.

“Kids feed off of that,” Henrickson said. “I don’t think it bothers Iowa State, but I know it helps our kids. I know it does.”

— — Edited by Realle Roth