The Iowa State Cyclones (12-8, 4-4 Big 12) lost 71-79 to the West Virginia Mountaineers (14-5, 4-4 Big 12) on Sunday afternoon, a game mostly dominated by the Mountaineers, as they led by 17 at one point until the Cyclones made a push late in the fourth quarter.

While West Virginia came away with the win, there were a few things to point out in the loss.

Late run

The Cyclones trailed by 14 points with just 1:02 remaining — then things got interesting.

A Kristin Scott 3-pointer, a pair of baskets by Inès Nezerwa and Ashley Joens and a free throw by Adriana Camber cut the Mountaineers’ lead to six within 25 seconds.

The Cyclones could only turn it into a free throw battle from there.

West Virginia’s Kysre Gondrezick made her two free throws with 39 seconds remaining to put the lead at eight, as the run proved too little, too late.

But for a team that was on the wrong side of many of those runs during the game, it is a building block for confidence heading forward.

A missed free throw by West Virginia and the game could’ve finished differently.

Ashley Joens’ foul trouble

One thing that caused the Iowa State offense to struggle for much of the game was that its leading scorer was forced to the bench early with foul trouble.

Joens played only seven minutes in the first half as she picked up three fouls, and when she returned for the second half, the team could not find the rhythm it has had for much of the year.

She has scored 37 points in her last three games (12.3 per game), which is much lower than her season average of 21.4. Even when Joens is not scoring, her being on the court opens up the rest of the offense for more opportunities.

With her not on the court, the offense looked a bit out of place at times.  

A few players that stepped up in her absence were Kristin Scott, who scored 16 points, and Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw, who had her third-consecutive game of double-figure scoring with 10 points.

But the 16-point deficit that the Cyclones got in was too much, and it shows how important having Joens on the court and getting into a rhythm is to the success of the team.

Defensive struggles

While the offense can be slowed down without Joens, it is important for the defense to pick up the slack.

West Virginia came into the game with one of the worst offenses in the Big 12, averaging 67 points per game, which ranks ninth, but the Mountaineers used the paint to their advantage, scoring 32 inside the key compared to Iowa State’s 18.

Getting scored on inside is an area where the Cyclones could get tougher, as they rank ninth in scoring defense in the Big 12, giving up 67.15 points per game. Iowa State has held the opponent to under 67 points in just two of the eight conference games.

It is important to highlight that West Virginia just recently experienced a drop off in performance. The Mountaineers came into the game off four straight conference losses but were ranked in the AP Poll just one week ago.

The struggles that Iowa State endured on the defensive end can be used as a learning experience in two crucial games this week with opponents they played very close with in the last two games vs. Oklahoma State and Oklahoma.

But in the big picture, if the Cyclones want to squeak into the NCAA Tournament, the defensive end needs to see a bit of improvement.