Four Longhorns — Madison Booker, Shaylee Gonzales, Shay Holle and Aaliyah Moore — scored at least 12 points and No. 5 Texas extended its winning streak to six games with an 81-60 win over Iowa State at Moody Center on Saturday. The victory kept Texas (24-3, 11-3) in the running for the Big 12 championship.

Here are three observations and a quote from the Longhorns' 21-point triumph:

Texas takes control during the second quarter

When a media timeout was called with 4:37 left in the second quarter, Texas found itself down 31-30. Less than five minutes later, the Longhorns rolled into halftime with a 10-point lead.

So, how did Texas go from facing a one-point deficit to holding a 43-33 edge? Booker scored six points in a 66-second span, and UT also got buckets from Moore, Gonzales and DeYona Gaston as well as a Taylor Jones free throw. Defensively, Texas forced two turnovers while limiting Iowa State to a 1-for-8 shooting performance.

Iowa State was unable to get any closer than five points in the second half against Texas, which outscored the Cyclones 23-10 in the fourth quarter.

Two of the Big 12's top freshmen go head-to-head

Saturday's game featured the only two players to win three Big 12 freshman of the week awards this season. Booker, the Texas point guard, and Iowa State center Audi Crooks had also each been recognized once as the Big 12 player of the week.

Since both played well Wednesday — Booker scored 23 points in an 82-66 rout of Houston while Crooks had 20 points and nine rebounds in a double-overtime takedown of No. 7 Kansas State — another weekly award was possibly on the line Saturday. Perhaps either Booker or Crooks would also emerge as the clear front-runner for Big 12 freshman of the year.

In addition to the win, Booker recorded her second double-double performance of the season. She had 18 points, which matched Gonzales' team-high total. Booker also distributed a career-high 10 assists while committing only two turnovers. In the fourth quarter, she earned perhaps her biggest cheers when she loudly blocked a shot by Iowa State's Addy Brown.

"Madison Booker is skilled, very mature beyond her age," Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly said. "The game doesn't speed up for her and you got to give her a lot of credit and their coaches for, you know, she's had to make a position adjustment without Rori (Harmon)."

Added Fennelly: "It's a bad comparison, but since I'm in Texas, she's got a little Kevin Durant in her. Got a fadeaway, jumper, can do a lot of things. Very impressive on film and a lot more impressive sitting on the bench watching her play." That comparison may be apt for Booker, who wears the No. 35 because of Durant.

Crooks held her own over the 33 minutes that she played. The 6-foot-3 newcomer shot 10-for-19 from the field and led all scorers with 24 points.

"She's got a great career in front of her," Texas coach Vic Schaefer said. "She is hard to deal with."

Texas, two others pull within one game of Oklahoma

The Big 12 race can now be considered a sprint to the finish. Oklahoma entered this weekend with a two-game lead over Kansas State, Texas and West Virginia, but the Sooners (18-7, 12-2) were beaten on the road by West Virginia (22-3, 11-3) on Saturday. That means that lead over the Longhorns, Mountaineers and a Wildcats team that beat Central Florida is down to one game.

Each of those four teams must play four more games in the regular season. The key games down the stretch will be West Virginia's trip to Kansas State (22-4, 11-3) on Wednesday and Oklahoma's home game against Texas on Feb. 28.

"You can't take anything for granted right now, especially in this league with so many good teams. Anything can happen on any given night, so it's really just one game at a time, focus on who's next," said Holle, whose team will host Texas Tech this upcoming Wednesday.

Texas and Oklahoma split the Big 12 championship last year. West Virginia won its last conference championship in 2014 and it's been 16 years since Kansas State was last crowned.

They said it: Shaylee gets back to scoring

"I tried to focus on being more aggressive. I feel like that really helped me and just driving it to the basket," — Shaylee Gonzales.

Her 18 points were a conference-high total this season for the sixth-year guard. Gonzales had been limited to 13 points over her last four games despite playing 124 minutes in those contests. Against Iowa State, she made eight of her 15 shots and knocked down two 3-pointers within 40 seconds of each other in the first quarter.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas beats Iowa State basketball team as Big 12 standings tighten up