Iowa State’s guard Ashley Joens (24) attempts to shoot the ball against Baylor in the Big 12 basketball tournament, Friday, March 10, 2023, at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo. © Annie Rice/Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Iowa State and Baylor entered the final four minutes of their Big 12 tournament quarterfinal game in a deadlocked tie at 63 points.
The Cyclones ended the game on an 11-0 run, beating No. 6 Baylor 74-63 to advance to Saturday’s Big 12 semifinal.
“When the biggest moments show up, the biggest players show up,” Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly said.
Ashley Joens hit back-to-back three’s 25 seconds apart, Baylor didn’t score again and Lexi Donarski hit a dagger off of a pass from Emily Ryan.
“When you have (Joens and Ryan), you just feel comfortable,” Fennelly said. “I’m not saying we are going to win the game, but we are going to make the right plays. It was an amazing finish to the game.”
Joens finished the night with 30 points and 15 rebounds while Ryan recorded 15 points, eight assists and six boards. Each of them played a full 40 minutes.
“The execution down the stretch was really, really good,” Fennelly said. “Those two won the game. We have Emily Ryan. The ball goes to the right place at the right time 90 percent of the time.”
Throughout the game, more and more Iowa State fans piled into Municipal Auditorium, which is a short walk away from where the men’s program was taking on Kansas.
Little by little, the intensity rose. Reactions got louder and so did the cheers – and Iowa State feeds off of it more than any program on the women’s side at this event.
By the fourth quarter, it had all the feels of a championship game and the Cyclones fed off of it to come away with the win.
“Baylor gave us a really good run,” Joens said. “We were able to counter it. It’s fun to play in games like this.”
Between the atmosphere and stifling numbers Joens put up, the game will be remembered as one of the classic nights No. 24 has had in her career.
“(That was) the kind of game that this tournament is about,” Fennelly said… “When people talk about Hilton South, that’s not a catchphrase that somebody puts on a shirt. It’s real. It’s a really, really cool thing. I am glad they made the effort and hopefully we will see a few of them hanging around tomorrow afternoon.”
Behind the performances from two of the team’s leaders, Morgan Kane and Denae Fritz might have been just as impactful. The pair of players each fought their way to 10 rebounds and led the team with Fritz’ +22 and Kane’s +18 plus/minus numbers.
“I think it is a talent to show up to work every day, I do,” Fennelly said. “Mo (Kane) shows up every day.” “Denae (Fritz) is becoming the kind of player that our fans are going to love watching. She doesn’t back down from anything.”
Those numbers went into Iowa State outrebounding the Bears by 25, collecting 54 rebounds to Baylor’s 29 despite a considerable size disadvantage.
Iowa State earned the win from almost every angle that it could attack towards, and Donarski only finished with six points.
“I wish we could bottle that last 3:59, that’s for sure,” Fennelly said.
That recipe has come out more frequently in the closing months of Iowa State’s season, and it’s the exact thing that this group needs to make another run to the second weekend of the big dance.
On Saturday, Iowa State will put the recipe to the test again, facing No. 2 Oklahoma in the semifinals at 2:30 p.m.
