AMES — For the first time during his tenure at Iowa State, Coach Bill Fennelly’s squad lost in Hilton against the Iowa Hawkeyes.
The Cyclones fought hard Wednesday, but fell, 61-55.
It wasn’t pretty, as ISU struggled to get into a rhythm the entire night and shot 30 percent from the floor.
Iowa State went cold in the second quarter, failing to record a basket for over seven minutes.
There was still some positives from the game, however.
Defensively, the Cyclones played a solid game from start to finish, holding the Hawkeyes to 38 percent shooting and forcing 16 turnovers.
It was an up-and-down kind of a night for Bride Kennedy-Hopoate, but she did a phenomenal job guarding Hawkeyes leading scorer Megan Gustafson for a majority of the night.
“I wasn’t afraid of the challenge, I wanted to shut her down”, said Kennedy-Hopoate. “I think I did pretty well on her but collectively as a group we missed little things, [such as] boxing out consistently.”
The Hawkeyes outrebounded the Cyclones 46 to 36, but it felt like the margin was larger than that. At 3-5, Iowa State has a couple issues to work on moving forward, and the lack of rebounding is certainly one of the most pressing.
Bridget Carleton worked her tail off for 38 minutes, but was unable to get going, finishing 3 for 16 from the field. Even in an off night, Coach Fennelly stressed how important she is for this team.
“We’re not even in the game if Bridget’s not playing,” Fennelly said.
Through eight games, it’s well-known at this point that the ceiling of this team depends on how far Carleton can take them.
If Carleton has a bad game or two, you can sure bet this Cyclones team will still battle until the final whistle. They did that tonight, making the Hawkeyes earn this W.
FINAL NOTES
*This marks the first time Iowa State has lost to all three opposing Iowa teams since 2003.
