Iowa State (9-6, 1-3 Big 12) looked well on its way to beating the TCU Horned Frogs (12-3, 3-1 Big 12) on Wednesday as it held a 54-44 lead midway through the third quarter. 

However, TCU came back to defeat Iowa State 77-74 in Hilton Coliseum. TCU showcased a dominant showing on both sides of the ball in the final 15 minutes of game time.

TCU’s offense struggled in the first two and a half quarters against Iowa State, only scoring 44 points with less than five minutes to go in the fourth quarter. However, in the last 15 minutes of the game, TCU outscored Iowa State 33-20 and escaped with a 77-74 win.

In the final 15 minutes of Wednesday’s game, the Horned Frogs scored their 33 points on 13 for 26 shooting.

Meanwhile, the Cyclones shot 5-17 from the field and 3-13 in the fourth quarter. 

The Cyclones scored 14 points in the fourth quarter, but that wasn’t enough as the Horned Frogs scored 24 points to beat the Cyclones.

Before the Horned Frogs late game comeback, they forced many turnovers, which kept them in the game and led them to the comeback.

Turnovers continue to be a problem for the Cyclones

Going into Wednesday’s game, Iowa State needed to find a way to get past TCU’s Kianna Ray and Lauren Heard, who were both tied for second in the Big 12 in steals per game with 2.3 per game.

Against Iowa State, Ray had a team high four steals and Heard had three steals.

Iowa State committed 19 turnovers, which is the 12th time this season that it has committed more than 15 turnovers in a game.

In the last six out of eight games, Iowa State has committed 15 or more turnovers. In those eight games, Iowa State is 3-5. 

Iowa State’s turnover margin is -3.53, which is last out of the ten teams in the Big 12 and 311th out of 338 in the NCAA. 

Turnovers were the Cyclones kryptonite against the Horned Frogs, but it wasn’t the only problem they had on Wednesday.

Struggling to score

Against TCU, Ashley Joens accounted for 31 of the team’s 74 points. 

Iowa State’s lack of depth ended up hurting its offense which led to Joens having to score nearly half the team’s points.

The Cyclones had junior forward Madi Wise back for the first time in a month and a half on Wednesday. She had been dealing with migraines, which prevented her from playing. 

She didn’t have that much of an impact on Wednesday, scoring two points in 22 minutes.

The Cyclones are hoping to get consistent scoring outside of Joens.

Joens is one of the best players in the country. She is averaging 23.5 points per game, which leads the Cyclones, the Big 12 and is third in the NCAA.

Outside of Joens, Iowa State has only one player that is averaging more than nine points a game, junior center Kristin Scott, who averages 14.1 points per game.

This has resulted in many games, such as Wednesday’s, where Joens scored 20 or more points in a losing effort. 

Iowa State’s next game is at 2 p.m. Sunday in Stillwater, Oklahoma, against Oklahoma State.