With Iowa State losing 58-57, Ashley Joens stepped to the free-throw line with 19 seconds remaining.

It was the moment that every kid dreams of in the backyard.

And just like that — swish, swish, the ball went through the net twice.

Those free throws were two of Joens’ 8-for-8 performance from the line in the last five minutes.

“I’m pretty comfortable of myself every time I get up there,” Joens said. “In practice, I mean you shoot so many of them [free throws] so you just get used to shooting them.”

For Head Coach Bill Fennelly, he had exactly who he wanted with the ball at the right time.

“She wants to be there and accepts the responsibility of ‘if I make it I’m supposed to and if I miss it, I’ll do it again,’” Fennelly said. “That’s a great skill that is not talked about enough.”

Joens finished with 29 points and collected 13 rebounds for her 16th double-double of the year. She shot 7-23 from the field, but most importantly 13-14 from the free-throw line.

Joens’ free throws could not have been timelier for the Cyclones, as it seemed they could not get anything to fall down the stretch. The team shot 20-62 (32.3 percent) and 5-24 from three-point range (20.8 percent).

But they got the one thing that matters in the end: the win.

“The toughness of our team without Kristin [Scott] was excellent,” Fennelly said. “You just got to find a way sometimes and luckily the magic of Hilton got us through.”

Scott re-injured her back in Iowa State’s 51-60 loss against Kansas State this past Wednesday. Luckily, in her place, Ines Nezerwa stepped up for the Cyclones.

Nezerwa, a senior, held her own down low with 14 points and 9 rebounds. She also started off the game by stepping out to hit a three-pointer, only her third of the year.  

“Ines played like a senior today and her stat line was exactly what this team needed,” Fennelly said.

A huge part of the Cyclones’ defensive success was their ability to get the ball out of the hands of the Mountaineers’ best scorers. Kysre Gondrezick (16 points per game) and Tynice Martin (14.75 points per game) were held to five and seven points, respectively.

Iowa State ran a triangle-and-two defense to make other players score for West Virginia. It worked well for the Cyclones, as it made the Mountaineers play a different game than they were used to.

“I thought they were more physical than we were tonight,” said Mike Carey, head coach for West Virginia. “We can’t win playing like that.”

Against Kansas State, Iowa State scored a season-low 51 points while shooting 30 percent from the field. It was a similar shooting night, but a different result for the Cyclones.

This is a revenge win for the Cyclones, as they lost 71-79 to West Virginia earlier in the season on Feb. 2. A major part of that game was Iowa State’s 18 turnovers.

The Cyclones made taking care of the ball a priority in this one, only turning it over nine times.

“If they take something away, there’s always a counter move so you can kick the ball out or move somewhere else and play off what they’re doing,” Joens said.

The win helps Iowa State’s tournament hopes tremendously. In the latest ESPN Bracketology, the Cyclones were slated as a 10 seed while the Mountaineers were a 12. Coming off three straight losses, a fourth would have been costly for Iowa State.

But it didn’t lose, thanks to Joens and her composure at the line.

“Some people have that ‘it’ thing of taking responsibility that if I miss the shot and we lose the game, I’m good with it. A lot of kids are playing hide and seek and they don’t want the ball. I think with Ashley, if you don’t give her the ball, she’s mad,” Fennelly said. “So we’ll just keep giving her the ball.”