LEXINGTON, Ky.- The Iowa State women’s basketball team (18-13, 9-9 Big 12) fell to the Dayton Flyers (26-6, 14-2 Atlantic 10), 78-66, on Friday at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Kentucky in the first round of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair with the two squads trading leads before Dayton took a 42-34 lead at halftime. Coming out of the locker rooms, Dayton was able to push its lead to 16 with 13:35 remaining in the second half, jumping out to a 57-41 advantage. The Flyers were too much for the Cyclones down low, finishing the game on 48-percent shooting, going 28-58. Iowa State was able to mount several rallies, but had key shots rim out as the Flyers kept their distance.
Junior Kidd Blaskowsky led the Cyclones in the first half with eight points on 2-of-4 shooting behind the arc as both Fallon Ellis and Seanna Johnson went into the break with three rebounds each.
Nikki Moody was huge for the Cyclones in the second half, scoring 10 of her 17 points after the break. Moody drilled two 3-point baskets in the second half.
Iowa State was able to cut Dayton’s lead to seven with under six minutes to play, after Brynn Williamson cleaned up a missed three-point try from Moody. But an answer from Dayton’s Andrea Hoover pushed the lead back to nine.
The Cyclones final rally came with just under three minutes to play after Kidd Blaskowky hit a huge three to cut the lead to seven. Iowa State was unable to get the stops in needed in the final minutes of the game, ultimately falling 78-66.
Iowa State’s first-team All-Big 12 point guard Nikki Moody was key for the Cyclones down the stretch, scoring seven-straight points to cut Dayton’s lead to 10 with under nine minutes to play. Moody led the Cyclones with 17 points and five assists. Moody ends her Iowa State career as the school’s all-time leader in assists with 745.
