AMES – A 14-0 third-quarter run by Texas (11-3, 5-2 Big 12) was too much for No. 24 Iowa State (10-5, 6-2 Big 12) to overcome as the Cyclones saw their four-game winning streak come to an end 70-59 Saturday evening at Hilton Coliseum.
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Joens led ISU with 17 points, while Lexi Donarski and Madison Wise each added eight. Emily Ryan just missed out on her third-career 10-assist effort, finishing with nine.
The game started with lots of intensity and physicality from both sides. Despite hitting four of their first five shots, the Cyclones were hindered by a pair of turnovers and foul trouble after getting out to a 6-1 lead. Ashley Joens picked up her second foul of the game just three minutes in, giving ISU another piece of the puzzle to have to factor in. The Horns went on a 10-0 run capped by a Charli Collier 3-pointer to pull ahead 18-10, an eight-point lead they would take into the second after ISU went scoreless for the final 2:07 of the period.
Joens re-entered to start the second quarter, but that move did not workout, as she picked up her third foul at 7:04 to go with ISU only a point closer to the visitors. Texas got up 12 at 29-17 halfway through the period, before the Cyclones had a three-possession 9-0 burst via two treys by Aubrey Joens and another from Lexi Donarski to get back within a possession at 29-26. UT’s Lauren Ebo got a bucket in the final seconds to give the visitors a 34-29 lead heading into the locker room.
Emily Ryan converted an old-fashioned three-point play to get within one at 38-37 early in the third, but Joanne Allen-Taylor made eight of a 14-0 run which put the Longhorns ahead to their biggest lead at 52-37. Ashley Joens returned to the action to get a couple of baskets to get ISU back within 10 at 53-43, but Collier put away a hook shot at the buzzer to put UT up by a dozen heading to the fourth.
Despite making smaller in-roads into the contest, ISU struggled to find the big breakthrough to get back into it, as Texas got ahead by 15 again at 63-48 on an Allen-Taylor four-point play. The Longhorns were able to slow down the game and limit ISU’s chances to get back into it. Despite 11 Joens points in the period, there would not be a path back, as Texas was able to ice the game away and complete the season sweep of the Cyclones.
Despite a season-low 18 minutes played, Ashley Joens was still able to get into double figures, leading the Cyclones with 17 points. After playing only eight minutes across the first three quarters, 11 of Joens’ points came in the fourth quarter.
Aubrey Joens had a solid contribution off the bench to keep ISU in it in the first half, getting seven points, her most since hitting 13 against Drake last month.
Up Next
The No. 24 Cyclones return to action on Thursday at Kansas State. Tip in The Little Apple between ISU and K-State will be at 6:30 p.m. on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
