After leading by 20 early in the second half, the Cyclones held off an Arizona State comeback with a 90-83 win in Tempe, Arizona, Wednesday night.
Iowa State improves to 11-6 after a tough loss at home against Utah. The win is also the Cyclones’ first away win of the season after starting 0-3 in that department.
The Cyclones and the Sun Devils started the night shooting like the hoop was 10-feet wider. Iowa State shot 66.7% from the field in the first quarter, including 8-for-10 from 3.
Arizona State shot an impressive 47% from the field in the quarter, but the Cyclones led 34-23. Iowa State held onto that lead in the second quarter and was up on the Sun Devils 47-35 at halftime.
Iowa State built a 55-35 lead early into the second half, but Arizona State did not quit there. Late into the fourth quarter, the Cyclones only led by one possession, 86-83. Two free throws from sophomore guard Arianna Jackson and freshman guard Reagan Wilson sealed the win for Iowa State.
First-half shooting boosts Cyclones
Iowa State has struggled most of the season on outside shooting, but sophomore forward Addy Brown acknowledged after the Utah loss that they will start falling at some point.
Against the Sun Devils, everyone was spraying from beyond the arc in the first half. Fifth-year senior guard Emily Ryan, sophomore guard Kelsey Joens and Wilson all knocked down a 3-pointer in the first half, while junior guard/forward Sydney Harris had two.
Jackson stepped up big and had four threes in the first half, and two free throws brought her first-half total to 14.
The Cyclones’ leading scorers, sophomore center Audi Crooks and Brown, combined for 11 of Iowa State’s 47 points in the first half. The two combined for nearly 50% of the team’s points on average.
With 55% shooting in the first half, it helped the Cyclones build a bit of a buffer that helped fend off the persistent Sun Devils that would not go away.
Arizona State gifts Iowa State through fouls
With a game that came down to the final minute, any advantage makes a big difference in the outcome of who wins and who goes home losers. Fouls and free throws were the difference between the Cyclones and Sun Devils.
Arizona State unwillingly gave Iowa State plenty of opportunities at the free throw line off 26 fouls. Out of the seven players who stepped on the floor for Arizona State, six of them had four or more fouls.
The Cyclones fouled the Sun Devils a mere nine times over the course of the entire game, a mark that Arizona State hit in the first half.
Despite 38 tries at the charity stripe during the game, Iowa State knocked down 26 of them, giving the Cyclones a 68% rate at the line for the game, the same as the season average.
Fennelly limits the lineup to seven players
After preaching about the Cyclones’ depth and ability to play all 11 players on any given night, head coach Bill Fennelly kept the lineup fairly shallow against the Sun Devils, with seven players playing 10 minutes or more.
Freshman guard Aili Tanke, who has started six games this season so far, played only one minute against Arizona State. Junior guard Lily Hansford was limited to only three minutes as well.
In a game where every second seemed like it mattered, the people on the floor mattered just as much, which Fennelly understood. Crooks stepped up in the second half with 13 of her 20 points, and went 82% from the line in the fourth quarter, which showed that Fennelly had the right players on the floor.
Three of the starters played over 30 minutes, and Harris and Wilson were the main contributors off the bench, with nine and 10 points, respectively. Jackson hit her season high in points in the first quarter alone, but her 16 total filled that role of a fourth scorer that Iowa State has been searching so desperately for.
Iowa State will stay in Arizona for a game against the Wildcats at 3 p.m. Saturday in Tucson, Arizona. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
