Photo Courtesy of Jacqueline Cordova / Cyclone Fanatic
AMES — Hannah Belanger’s smile seemed to become a permanent facial feature as she strode toward the bench.
The Iowa State graduate transfer guard left the Hilton Coliseum floor to a rousing standing ovation in the closing moments of the Cyclones’ 76-60 win over Cincinnati on Saturday and that grin remained on her face through every hug on her long journey to the end of the bench.
“The day I committed here I felt like I made it,” said Belanger, who scored 14 of her 17 points in the second half on senior day. “I really trusted the process and I deserved to go Division I.”
Belanger — along with versatile senior forward Nyamer Diew — closed one chapter of their college careers, but they and their teammates can look forward to the Big 12 and NCAA Tournaments.
ISU (18-10, 12-6) finished the regular season with two top-10 and four top-25 wins and will earn a double bye in the Big 12 Tournament if No. 21 Baylor beats Oklahoma State on Sunday in Waco.
“Every setback, we’ve come back from,” said freshman center Audi Crooks, who scored a game-high 22 points while grabbing 10 rebounds. “We’ve just shown (we have) tenacity as a team and we’ve grown. I’m so excited for our postseason run, for the Big 12 Tournament. I think we’re gonna continue to surprise a lot of people.”
Senior point guard Emily Ryan scored seven points and clutched eight rebounds while dishing out a game-best 12 assists. Freshman forward Addy Brown added 10 points and five assists. The Cyclones trailed the Bearcats, 36-32, at halftime, but reeled off 14 consecutive points to start the third quarter and led by at least seven points the rest of the game.
Crooks scored 13 points in the third quarter and Belanger added 12 as ISU outscored Cincinnati, 28-9, to essentially seal their fourth straight win.
“The last thing I told (the seniors) before the game, at halftime, and right after the game was, ‘This is (your) last time in this building,’” ISU head coach Bill Fennelly said. “‘You need to walk up the ramp with a smile on your face and your heart full because of what you did today,’ and I think they did that.”
Belanger sank three of her four 3-pointers to help stoke the Cyclones’ second-half surge and after the game, she gave up at the video board to watch her own pre-recorded senior speech. Her parents flanked her as her smile briefly became faint and tears began to flow — both in real time and on video. Belanger had zero Division I offers out of high school, then starred for four seasons at Division II Truman State. She yearned to play at college basketball’s highest level and Iowa State gave her that long-awaited opportunity.
“My parents are truly the two people people that have believed in me the entire way,” an emotional Belanger said. “They knew that I could play at this level when not many people did. So I feel like finally getting here and finally proving to everyone what I and my parents knew all along was literally my, ‘I made it,’ moment. I wouldn’t change my journey, but I’m just glad I get to end it here.”
