AMES – Iowa State’s strong defensive structure led by forward Addy Brown caused an 84-56 takeover win Sunday against Southern University, giving the Cyclones their third win of the season.

Before the game, senior guard Emily Ryan was celebrated for achieving greatness as Iowa State’s women’s basketball all-time assists leader. Ryan led the team for the past four years, gaining 795 career assists and maintaining an average of 6.6 assists per game.

Early in the game, the Cyclones quickly gained momentum offensively with a 17-0 lead in the first minutes. This lead carried on as Iowa State maintained possession of the ball throughout due to the Jaguars demonstrating their ability quickly that their only way to maintain points was due to missed second chances and lack of ball handling. However, a lack of mistakes for Southern to thrive on caused the Cyclones to walk into the second half with a 19-point lead.

Having more structure than the other teams Iowa State has played, Southern’s defense was a quick turnaround for the Cyclones as their aggression was pushed. However, due to many quick turnarounds, sloppy passes and skills, the Cyclones were gifted many opportunities. These opportunities did not go to waste as the Cyclones converted on 12 successful 3-pointers which contributed to 43% of their overall score.

Transitioning into the second half of play, the Jaguars kicked it up defensively as their restless behavior, due to being behind, was becoming apparent. Having a more strategic defensive plan, the Cyclones offense was derailed and turned over to a more aggressive offensive approach. With Southern’s use of defensive positioning and double-teaming, the Jaguars gained more control of the ball. However, their ability to gain possession did not derail from their lack of ability to shoot the ball.

Even though the Jaguars improved their defense, it was not enough to stop the Cyclones’ sturdy offense, as their consistent scoring ultimately built their lead, allowing Iowa State to secure its third win of the season.

Points in the paint build early momentum 

With an easy-won jump ball, the Cyclones’ early possession was no match for the Jaguars. With center Audi Crooks positioned at the low post it was easy for Iowa State to earn points early on.

The early points in the paint contributed to 40% of the overall points, which was led by Crooks’ and Brown’s layups, along with Brown’s jump shot.

“The shots felt good, smooth, no complaints,” Brown said. 

The quick and fluent points gave Iowa State a 17-point lead in the first quarter, which ultimately led to the Cyclones building momentum within shooting for the rest of the game.

3-pointers pave the way to victory

During a quick timeout in the first quarter, due to the Cyclones’ quick points, the Jaguars switched their defensive plan which ultimately influenced their points in the paint. However, the early lead gave the team confidence within the 3-point arc.

With many opportunities opened up by the arc, guards Arianna Jackson and Kenzie Hare both led with six 3-point shot attempts, but each connected only two times.

Leading with successful shots was guard/forward Sydney Harris who walked away with a team-high of three made 3-pointers out of her attempted four shots.

“[Sydney Harris] was good today, so she will get extra minutes,” head coach Bill Fennelly said.

Although Ryan lacked her usual points by only tallying eight, her two 3-pointers came at pivotal times which led the team to a more clear-cut victory.

“She’s in the gym all the time shooting, and I’m like if you’re going to spend all that time shooting you might as well go read a book or something or study,” Fennelly said. “Because if you spend all that time shooting, why don’t you shoot in the games? But that’s not her nature, she’s so smart there’s a reason she is the career assists leader.”

Brown comes in the clutch against Southern’s defense

Coming in with a strong defensive game plan, Hare substituted guard Aili Tanke in the starting lineup after Tanke started the first two games.

“Tanke didn’t start tonight not because she did anything wrong,” Fennelly said. “We just wanted to give Kenzie [Hare] a shot because of our defensive game plan because they had two really good guards off the bound.”

With the Jaguars’ defense double-teaming Crooks, the points-in-the-paint lacked in the second half, leading to an increase in availability around the arc.

“There have been zones, there have been doubles, people just sit in a lane and that’s great for us because that opens up on the perimeter,” Crooks said. “I felt like we really spread out the points tonight, everybody kinda got theirs which is credit to that zone when they double in. I mean the 3-point shooters are going to have a hay day and that’s completely fine with me.”

With Crooks being blocked, the ball traveled to many players, but Brown was a consistent shooter who led the team in points throughout the game.

“I just got extra reps in after last game, I just didn’t make a bunch last game, and as a team, we all kinda struggled,” Brown said. “So I just went back to the basics of my shot and I felt good during warmups.”

Brown ended the night with a double-double, consisting of 21 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and one steal.

“[Brown] is so skilled and plays so hard,” Fennelly said. “She can really impact the game in so many ways. Tremendously talented, tremendously gifted from a basketball IQ sense and you can tell. So we are lucky she is on our team.”