Iowa State found itself in a back-and-forth game against TCU on Saturday afternoon, but like fans have seen throughout the year, a pair of players shifted gears to find a way to win in dominant fashion.
In Saturday’s 93-70 win over TCU, it was Emily Ryan dishing out a school-record 17 assists and adding 14 points to go along with it. That’s just a little over a month from the game in which she tied the previous record of 16.
With any assist, it takes a bucket to make it happen at the end of the day. Ashley Joens made sure to make it happen, finishing with 32 points in her sixth game with 30 or more of the season.
With Saturday’s game, Joens’ career total climbs to 2,138 points for the program and the Iowa City native needs only 12 points to break the program’s all-time scoring mark set by Angie Welle (2,149).
TCU trailed by eight points at the halftime break, but that wasn’t indicative of the seven-turnover first half that allowed them to keep it close.
It was a much different story in the second half. Turnovers weren’t coming on possessions where Iowa State could extend its lead. The offense, which attempted 36 3-pointers and made 19 of them, was operating on all cylinders.
Coach Bill Fennelly and his staff made all of the adjustments necessary, leaving with a comfortable win.
The win gives Iowa State its 10th victory in Big 12 play this year, with six games still remaining on the schedule.
The team’s 21-3 record and 10-2 mark in league play puts it in a spot to compete for a regular season championship over the final stretch of games. The Cyclones remain tied for first place in the conference.
Iowa State will now gear up for a pair of heavyweight bouts coming in the next pair of games, the first being Wednesday night against Texas on the road.
