Iowa State falls short to No. 9 Baylor
Iowa State junior Ashley Joens (No.24) fights through contact to try and score against No.9 Baylor in Hilton Coliseum on Sunday. (Photo courtesy of LUKE LU/Iowa State Athletics)
January 31, 2021
The Iowa State Cyclones fell to the Baylor Lady Bears 85-77 in their second meeting this season. The last time the two met, Iowa State defeated Baylor 75-71 away from home and were hoping to recreate another winning performance against the Lady Bears but couldn’t get the job done on Sunday.
The game was fairly close to start out as there were multiple lead changes and the Cyclones were able to keep up with the pace of the Lady Bears. The Cyclones were able to get the lead early in the first quarter behind the scoring of Ashley Joens who finished the quarter with eight points.
From there the Cyclones went back and forth with the Lady Bears and at halftime the game was tight with a score of 47-41 to the Lady Bears. Baylor forward NaLyssa Smith led the way for her team throughout the game as she finished with 20 points and was big on the glass with 10 rebounds.
Rebounds were a huge factor in this game as Baylor finished the night with 51 to Iowa State’s 26. The rebounding contributed to a lot of second chance points for Baylor as they were able to pull away from the Cyclones in the fourth quarter.
With 23 offensive rebound and 21 second chance points, Baylor made their presence on the glass known and the Cyclones had no answer.
While the Cyclones were being out-rebounded and outscored on second chance points, they were still able to keep the game close heading into the fourth with a score of 66-65. The fourth quarter saw Baylor go on a 17-10 run which helped them pull away from Iowa State.
The fourth quarter also saw Iowa State make no field goals in the final 4:10 of gameplay which really hurt them and kept them out of reach of winning the game.
Despite the loss, the Cyclones were still able to keep it close with one of the best teams in the nation whom they’ve defeated in their last two meetings.
The Cyclones will now look forward to their next game against West Virginia on Wednesday as they hope to bounce back from this close loss. That game will be available to stream on ESPN+ via Big 12 Now with tip-off scheduled for 6 p.m.
