AMES — On a night dedicated to honoring the seniors on the young Iowa State squad, the Cyclones had looked to give guard Hannah Belanger and forward Nyamer Diew the proper send-off with a home game against Cincinnati.

With a third-quarter surge, Iowa State got the job done to wrap up its regular season on the right note while sending the seniors off with a memory they will never forget with the Cyclones beating the Bearcats 76-60.

Crooks, Belanger lead Cyclones’ third-quarter spark

After being down 36-32 at halftime, Iowa State had looked to rebound from a less-than-ideal start to a special day dedicated to honoring the seniors on its roster.

The Cyclones did not let this special day go to waste, as Iowa State exploded to outscore Cincinnati 28-9 in the third quarter which helped bring the team to its fourth straight win.

A 14-0 run was set off to start the first 3:56 of the second half which was mainly led by center Audi Crooks, who had eight of those 14 points and finished with a team-high 13 third-quarter points.

Crooks knew that the team had to pick up the pace coming out of the break and knew that there was not going to be anyone that was going to stop this team from getting the win Saturday.

“We were playing for something bigger,” Crooks said. “I don’t think there was any team in the nation that could’ve beat us tonight.”

Iowa State head coach Bill Fennelly simply put his message to his team into three things that ended up being the difference-maker for the Cyclones.

“The message at halftime was three simple things,” Fennelly said. “One, everyone take a breath. I think we were a little wound up with the senior hype and with last game. Secondly, we made a concerted effort to throw the ball into [Crooks], a lot more than we did in the first half. Third, [Arianna Jackson] was back in the game. She gave us a defensive presence and another ball handler, so I’d say those are the three things that changed [the game].”

Another player who helped contribute toward the third-quarter throttling was Belanger, as she finished the quarter with 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting, 3-of-4 coming from beyond the arc.

After what was a slow start for Belanger and the Cyclones, she knew that the team had to bring more energy to come back and beat Cincinnati to end off their regular season on the right note.

“I think it was the energy and effort,” Belanger said. “When we come out flat, we know it and it’s hard to come back from that. But when we come out ready to play, ready with energy, we get on a run, and I think that’s what you saw in the third quarter.”

Belanger sets ablaze in the second half

During the first half, Belanger could not find the stride she was used to finding early on in games. She finished the first half with three points on one-of-six shooting, one-of-four from 3-point range.

With Belanger being one of the two seniors recognized in Iowa State’s senior night, she knew that she could not have her last game at Hilton Coliseum end off on a poor note.

“I knew like the last time I played here, that I didn’t want to end it on not the best note,” Belanger said. “I felt like I wasn’t playing as hard as I could have, but in the second half I felt like I brought it back and in doing so it became a fun little memory.”

In the second half, things became easy for Belanger as she exploded for 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting, 3-of-6 from beyond the arc, as she helped lead the Cyclones to a 16-point win over the Bearcats.

Fennelly knew within Belanger that she had the potential to not let her final home game at Iowa State go to waste.

“There was a time she missed a shot in the third quarter, but then I think there was a foul called from an offensive rebound and I looked at her and she looked straight at me and said ‘next one,’ so we ran the next two plays for her,” Fennelly said. “I’ve been coaching long enough where you could tell the look in someone’s eye and see that ‘it’s not my night’ or a look that says ‘you better call the next damn play for me’ and that’s how [Belanger] operates.”

After being honored with her family by her side postgame, Belanger reflected on what this season meant for her after previously playing four years at Truman State.

“I think it was just enjoying it [the season],” Belanger said. “Obviously, the pressure is there and the expectations can be there, so I think taking a step back to really enjoy where you are at is overlooked, so that was my entire focus this season and I think I’ve done a pretty good job at that.”

Belanger finished her first and last season with the Cyclones averaging 9.6 points per game and had the most 3-point makes (64) and attempts (171) on the entire Iowa State team.

With the team now looking at higher aspirations, Fennelly believes that his team would not be in this situation without Belanger being there to help lead this young Cyclone team.

“To come into a completely different situation as a 22-year-old, with the freshmen that are all already tight, I think she has had a phenomenal season,” Fennelly said “No way this team is even sniffing the NCAA Tournament without Hannah Belanger.”

Cyclones enter Kansas City with four-game win streak

With the regular season officially wrapped up for Iowa State, the team now looks ahead to what comes next, as the Cyclones have a trip to Kansas City on the itinerary for the Big 12 Tournament.

While seeding is not exact for Iowa State, the team will be certainly enjoying at least a little more off time than other Big 12 teams with a top-five seed in hand for the Cyclones.

Especially with Iowa State being on a four-game winning streak, Crooks and the Cyclones are excited to prepare for something that is bigger than they have faced all season long.

“We couldn’t be more thrilled with how we capped [off] these last four games,” Crooks said. “We looked at it as a little mini season to catapult us into the postseason. We’re gonna take the next day or two to regroup and see where things fall and get back to work just like we always have been doing.”

But knowing that everything in the regular season will not matter come tournament time is crucial for this Iowa State team to stay alive and potentially repeat as conference champions, as Fennelly looks to prepare his team to go to war next week.

“I’d like to say we have some [momentum], because I think we’re playing pretty well,” Fennelly said. “But obviously it’s a whole new world now, and every coach will say the same thing that everyone is now 0-0.”