Iowa State Cyclones’ forward Addy Brown (24) shoots the ball over UCF Knights center Khyala Ngodu (35) during the fourth quarter in the Big-12 women’s basketball at Hilton Coliseum on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025, in Ames, Iowa. © Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
No matter how big the punch, Iowa State responded – that is until overtime in an 87-79 loss to No. 11 Kansas State Thursday night.
The Cyclones ended regulation on a 10-0 run, but the game was sent to overtime after a failed 3-point attempt by Emily Ryan.
“The thing that bit us again – our scouting report defense is still a struggle,” Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly said on the Varsity Network postgame show. “And then, offensively, we couldn’t get anyone to make a shot except for Addy (Brown) and Audi (Crooks). You just look right down the list – we were 10-for-a lot. That’s a struggle.”
Brown and Crooks combined for 48 points on the night, but no other Cyclone scored in double figures.
Aside from the duo, Kelsey Joens finished 3-6 from the field and scored nine points. The rest of the team shot 7-38.
Those numbers didn’t encourage Fennelly, much like Iowa State’s 23 turnovers.
“We had some good looks at it, but had too many turnovers – we’ve got to give them credit,” Fennelly said. “(There were) some bad decisions by us, and we’ve got to coach that better. We worked really hard on it, and unfortunately it didn’t go our way tonight.”
The game was a chance at a resume-defining win for this group, which falls to 15-8 (6-4 Big 12) on the year.
Iowa State will return to the floor on Sunday with another opportunity for a marquee win on its resume, when it takes on No. 9 TCU at Hilton Coliseum (3:00 p.m. Fox Sports 1).
“It will be a harder matchup for us,” Fennelly said. “We’ll see. We’re in a really tough stretch with four games and no days off. We’ve got to figure out something. We’ll see what we can do. We’re excited to get back home. TCU’s a great team. I’m sure they’ll show up this year, because they have a great team, so I’m sure they’ll make the trip to Ames this year.”
