Dec 17, 2024; Uncasville, Connecticut, USA; UConn Huskies guard Ashlynn Shade (12) reacts after her three point basket against the Iowa State Cyclones in the first half at Mohegan Sun Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images
Iowa State came out with fight in its 101-68 loss to No. 4 UConn on Tuesday night, but thanks to red hot shooting start from the Huskies, not many would know it.
UConn made 11 of its first 13 3-pointers against the Cyclones and entered the halftime break with a 19-point lead.
“That’s just a great team,” Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly said. “They’re just better than us, they’re better coached than us… and when it’s going bad, we had a hard time stopping it. We’ll see where we go.
“People will say what they want to say, and there will be a lot of negative comments about what we are and what we aren’t, but I think our kids are very resilient,” Fennelly said. “We’ll get back home. Everyone’s 0-0 now. Hopefully, we’ll be ready to start the Big 12 against Oklahoma State on Saturday.”
Huskies sophomore Ashlynn Shade hit each of her first six 3-point attempts and finished with 27 points. Freshman Sarah Strong added another 29 for her team.
Despite an 11-0 run by the Cyclones in the second quarter, UConn still closed out the first 20 minutes with plenty of breathing room.
“I haven’t seen a team shoot the ball like that in a long time, maybe ever. I always joke that basketball is a make-shot, miss-shot game, and they made a lot of them.
“These games were a bit harder than a few that we’ll play in conference,” Iowa State’s Sydney Harris, who finished with 17 points, said on the Varsity Network broadcast. “That will help prepare us.”
Harris’ 17 points were her best so far as a Cyclone.
Sophomore forward Audi Crooks led her team once again with 22 points and six rebounds on the night.
“I’m disappointed with the end result, but when we’re talking about individual things, it’s a little bit of a confidence boost for me,” Crooks said on the Varsity Network broadcast. “We’re going to rest and reset, and not dwell on the things that happened while we were here. We’ll be ready to go for the Big 12.”
Iowa State will return to the court and start Big 12 Conference play against Oklahoma State on the road Saturday (4 p.m. ESPN2).
