Iowa State Cyclones guard Emily Ryan (11) celebrates after winning 74-49 over BYU in an NCAA women’s basketball at Hilton Coliseum on Feb. 24 2024, in Ames, Iowa. © Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK
AMES — Call it a no-brainer. Or a no-doubter. But when Iowa State senior point guard Emily Ryan considered whether or not to come back for one more season via a COVID-19 year, let’s just say she didn’t ruminate.
“It couldn’t have been an easier decision for me,” said Ryan, who hopes to propel the fourth-seeded Cyclones through the Big 12 Tournament field beginning with Saturday’s 11 a.m. quarterfinal at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. “I get to do what I love with the people I love (and) where I love (playing), so, easy decision.”
Determining whether Ryan — who is 10 assists away from breaking the program record — would return from injury this season proved to be fraught, rather than easy.
Ryan had to watch and coach from the bench while five freshmen, a senior transfer from the Division II level (Hannah Belanger) and fellow senior Nyamer Diew navigated most of an up-and-down nonconference season. The Cyclones (18-10, 12-6) stood 5-4 when Ryan was cleared to play a week before Christmas against Troy.
“It was a cool moment,” ISU head coach Bill Fennelly said. “You just hoped that that was, ‘All right, now we can work our way back’ — and it’s kind of been that way. So far, so good. But it was a scary time for everyone. Literally, we discussed redshirting. We discussed a lot of things that weren’t real pleasant and she wanted to give it a shot. At the end of the day, it was her call.”
It became another easy one, despite the precariousness that preceded it. And count first-team All-Big 12 freshman center Audi Crooks as one of many teammates to be grateful for Ryan’s steadying presence.
“She’s that grounding force,” said Crooks, who became just the second ISU freshman ever to attain first-time all-conference honors. “She’s the calm in the storm and she helped us a lot to grow as people and as players, so that’s impacted our season tremendously.”
The Big 12 season proved to be rocky as well, however, as the Cyclones endured a stretch of five losses in seven games before ending the regular season on a four-game win streak. Fennelly and his staff assembled a four-panel visual aid to highlight the importance of those final games and it resonated with Ryan and her teammates.
“That just made it seem attainable and kind of like, ‘This is what we have left and it’s up to us if we want to make it happen,’” said Ryan, who dished out a conference-best 113 assists in Big 12 play. “We refocused and dug our heels in and went to work, and fortunately it worked out well for us.”
Like Fennelly said, it’s a so-far, so-good situation — both for Ryan and the Cyclones writ large. ISU has almost certainly locked up an NCAA Tournament bid when the likelihood of doing so seemed dim before Ryan’s return. But enhancing the Cyclones’ seeding won’t be easy with No. 17 Baylor (24-6) lurking in Saturday’s quarterfinal.
“It’s kind of like a precursor to the NCAA Tournament,” Fennelly said. “So it’ll be a great challenge.”
One that Ryan readily embraces. Cherishes, even.
“If I had a chance to play this year, there was no way I wasn’t going to just because it’s such a special group,” Ryan said of her team.
