Sooners fall just short of upsetting Cyclones
AMES, Iowa—The biggest challenge for the Iowa State women entering Tuesday night's game against Oklahoma was avoiding the inevitable letdown that could come following one of the biggest wins in school history. Just three days earlier, Iowa State had handed Baylor its first home loss in 61 games by knocking off the sixthranked Lady Bears.
The Cyclones were able to avoid that letdown ... barely.
Iowa State star Ashley Joens' lay up with 10 seconds remaining helped Iowa State avoid an upset itself, as the Cyclones beat Oklahoma 64-63 at Hilton Coliseum. The fourth straight win for Iowa State improves the Cyclones to 10- 4 on the season and 6-1 in Big 12 Conference play. Joens finished with 32 points. And Iowa State needed all of them to beat Oklahoma (4-6,1-4), which arrived at Hilton with just one Big 12 win.
“Oklahoma outplayed us, they outcoached us and we were lucky to win,” said Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly. “We did not play at all like we need to play.”
But the Cyclones made just enough plays down the stretch after struggling through the first and third quarters. Oklahoma, which led by three with 26 seconds remaining, couldn't keep the advantage. The Sooners went the final five minutes and 10 seconds without a field goal, missing their last nine attempts.
The finishing performance left the door open for Iowa State. And Joens walked through it.
She brought Iowa State to within one with a layup with 21 seconds left. She
got Iowa State the ball back by drawing a charge on Oklahoma' s Ma di Williams. Then, with 10 seconds remaining, Joens drove to the hoop for the winning bucket.
A pair of shot attempts by Oklahoma in its final possession went well off the mark, and Iowa State survived.
Taylor Robertson led the Sooners with 26 points on 8-for-15 shooting. Gabby Gregory added 12 points and Madi Williams scored 11 points for OU, which will face No. 9 Baylor on Saturday night in Waco, Texas.