AMES — Iowa State suffered its first loss on home court, falling 75-67 against Utah Sunday, marking its second loss in the Big 12 Conference. 

The Cyclones’ inability to defend against Utah’s top performers determined the loss, as the Utes had multiple shooting success points from around the court.

Iowa State’s early struggle

Quickly presented with Utah’s shooting strength, the Cyclones struggled to find a rhythm in the first quarter, which led to them trailing the Utes for most of the game.

With Utah’s quick ability to take control of the game and maintain a strong pace, the Utes were able to make continuous back-to-back shots from around the court as Iowa State was unable to keep up.

“Half of them were my fault because we weren’t really guarding their post players out there and probably half of them were mistakes either offensively or defensively that led to open looks,” Iowa State head coach Bill Fennelly said.

Despite maintaining a defensive front, the Cyclones were sloppy with their ball handling as they overthrew their passes and gave in to Utah’s strength of scoring during the transition phase. The Utes made 16 points off turnovers and had seven fast break points. 

“A lot of the time they caught us slacking and we were not ready for that,” sophomore forward Addy Brown said.

With an offensive head start, Utah outshot Iowa State 23-17 in the first quarter, finding success from 3-pointers as the Utes shot 55.6% from behind the arc.

“They ran their stuff well and to their credit, we were slacking,” sophomore center Audi Crooks said. “On the switches and ball release, some of the help was late, we were not there where we should have been and that’s their offense.”

Having strength around the court, Utah also found success in the paint as forward Mayè Tourè led the team with 10 points, making four of her five attempted field goal shots.

“Start of the game, we were not guarding 21 [Tourè] on the 3-point line. Kid has made eight all year, made 20 in her life so we were not going out there we needed some help,” Fennelly said. 

Crooks’ milestone and battle inside

With both teams facing challenges, its top players were able to execute a successful game as Tourè and Crooks scored in the double-digit range.

Crooks played her 49th career game and made history by scoring her 1,000th career point, which makes her the fastest player in Iowa State women’s basketball history to reach this milestone.

Crooks found success in the paint as usual, walking away with a team-high of 29 points and eight rebounds, but committed five turnovers.

Along with finding success in the paint, Tourè was a strong asset around the perimeter as she made four of her six 3-point shots, walking away with a team-high of 24 points and nine rebounds while committing four turnovers.

“I of course did not expect her to hit those 3’s and get hot,” Crooks said. “Especially in those times when we are trying to help each other out with switches and help defense in those things, we just didn’t expect and anticipate that and I think that ended up hurting us, but that’s her credit. She’s a top player and a great basketball player.”

Lack of perimeter defense leads to Utah’s win

Despite coming back from their lack of defensive skill in the first quarter, the last-minute pressure got to the Cyclones as their inability to defend around the perimeter led to their second conference loss. 

By strengthening their defense around the low post, the Cyclones missed defensive opportunities at pivotal moments in the last minutes of play, which gave the Utes the ability to seal the game from behind the arc. 

With back-to-back 3-pointers made by senior guard Kennady McQueen and Tourè in the fourth quarter, the Utes were able to strengthen their lead. 

“The one they made in the fourth quarter, they just ran a simple ball screen and we have been switching it all day and we didn’t,” Fennelly said. “Again, they kick and great players make that shot and that’s what they did.”

Along with Iowa State’s heightened aggression on the defensive side, its personal fouls took a toll, as the Utes sealed the game with their additional success from the charity stripe on top of their 50% success rate from behind the arc.