The Iowa State women’s basketball team was able to bounce back with a win over Texas Tech on Sunday afternoon after losing to Texas one week prior 59-74.

The Cyclones maintained a strong lead throughout the whole game and beat the Lady Raiders 99-72 and are now 3-1 in conference play, 7-4 overall.

Versatility on the floor

After yet another game with multiple scorers in double digits for the Cyclones, it looks like Iowa State has found its balanced scoring attack, even without leader and senior forward Kristin Scott.

Scott went down at the tail end of the first half and didn’t come back into the game due to precautionary measures, but the Cyclones were still able to put forward a strong offense and find other people to score.

Iowa State had five players in double digits, led by freshman guard Lexi Donarski with 25, and two players recorded double-doubles.

Head Coach Bill Fennelly said everything is about balance and they have people that are capable of scoring at all five spots.

“If you look at the stat sheet Iowa State had five people in double figures and then an eight, a six, a five, a four and four, and [Texas Tech] had a 23 and a 23,” Fennelly said. “Two great players but the balance of our team, the ability, I think we have a lot of kids that can score, and if we take care of the ball and we do the things we’re supposed to do… hopefully that’s something we can build on.”

Freshman guard Emily Ryan recorded her second double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 assists, and senior guard Madi Wise was the other player with a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Freshman guard Kylie Feuerbach and junior guard Ashley Joens were the other two players in double figures, with Feuerbach putting up 12 points and Joens contributing 11.

Fennelly said the team played really well and had great balance, with contributions from everyone.

“With exception of the free-throw attempts by Tech, I don’t know that, statistically, you can look at anything and not say it was a really good night for Iowa State,” Fennelly said.

Outrebounding the opponent

Iowa State outrebounded Texas Tech 43-33 in the game, including nine offensive rebounds for 11 second-chance points.

Fennelly said rebounding is something Iowa State is going to struggle with due to them not being very big.

“You need to look at who we started the second half and literally we played five guards most of the game with Kristin out the second half,” Fennelly said. “… You gotta stick your nose in there and go after it a little bit so good balance rebounding-wise too.”

Fennelly said he doesn’t know if they’re ever going to be a team that’s plus nine a lot, but they just need to be even or in the ballpark and not give up second-chance opportunities.

“I thought we were much better at that tonight considering who we were playing and the lack of size most of the game,” Fennelly said.

Wise led the team with 10 rebounds, with Joens and Scott each coming next and grabbing six.

New record in the books

A big storyline of the game was the fact that Iowa State broke a school record for made 3-pointers in a game.

The Cyclones came out hot to start the game, with their first four baskets being 3-pointers, two of which were from Donarski.

The strong shooting didn’t stop there, as Iowa State hit 19 3-pointers by the end of the game to set a new school record for most threes in a game.

The previous record was set at 18, which was done twice in Ames, once Dec. 14, 2008, against Detroit and another time Feb. 19, 2000, against Missouri.

Iowa State already came close this season to breaking the record, hitting 17 3-pointers against Drake, but went cold in the final quarter to miss out.

Fennelly said they had some good looks in the game and when you see the ball go in, it translates through the whole group.

Iowa State finished 19-40 from beyond the arc. Donarski led the team in 3-pointers with seven and shot 7-9 from 3-point range.

Donarski said once she hit the two 3-pointers early it built her confidence for the rest of the game.

“It felt really good, our team is always super unselfish and we made a lot of extra passes tonight to open up a lot of threes for us,” Donarski said.

She added that breaking the record felt really good, especially since it had been set for so long so it was nice to break it.

Iowa State will look to snap Oklahoma State’s undefeated 5-0 conference record when the Cyclones play the Cowgirls at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Hilton Coliseum. The game will be available to watch on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.