AMES – The Cyclones hit milestones with their offensive dominance on the court, earning a 90-56 win against UCF on Saturday.
Quickly gaining momentum, Iowa State started strong right from the jump. The Cyclones made 36% of their 3-pointers, along with a 49% field goal success rate.
Finding offensive strength early on, Iowa State drove to a 20-point lead at halftime, which only grew in the second as the Cyclones took home a 34-point win.
An early start builds momentum
After the previous game against BYU, where the Cyclones scored 12 points in the first quarter compared to the Cougars’ 18, Iowa State went into the game against UCF intending to start strong.
“Today’s emphasis was just a faster start, especially after the last game,” sophomore guard Arianna Jackson said. “So just having a faster start, knowing that these games are what you want to be playing at this time of the season, and knowing that we got a tough stretch coming.”
In hopes of improving its start, Iowa State head coach Bill Fennelly mentioned that the team has made changes in warm-ups and practices.
“We did make some subtle changes in our warm-ups and a few other things,” Fennelly said. “Which I don’t know if that really impacted it, but I was really proud of our team.”
After a secured jump ball, leading to a layup that scored the first points of the game, Jackson had the starting strong goal in the back of her mind and shocked the crowd with an early 3-point shot to boost Iowa State to an early five-point lead.
Building confidence in their offensive abilities, many Cyclones followed their teammate’s success and quickly built a 13-point lead in the first four minutes of play, leading to UCF calling a timeout.
“We took the timeout to slow our players down and try to get them readjusted to the game,” UCF head coach Sytia Messer said.
With the Knights limited to seven players due to their leading scorer not being on the team anymore, the Cyclones were able to find points early on.
“It was really good,” Fennelly said. “We made some shots, we defended. I think you always worry because everything we practiced for two days was a complete waste of time because of who they played and who they didn’t play.”
The Cyclones ended the first quarter with a 26-10 lead.
3-point shooting strengthens
With a slew of previous mistakes from behind the arc, the Cyclones improved on their weakest attribute, as they secured 36 points from deep.
With six players finding success from the 3-point arc, junior guard Lily Hansford had continuous shots falling, as she made her first four 3-point attempts. Hansford finished with a season-high of 12 points.
“It meant everything to see the ball fall today,” Hansford said. “It also meant everything that my coaches and my teammates still believe in me and pass me the ball.”
Along with Hansford, the Cyclones’ success from behind the arc also came from other players, such as freshman guard Reagan Wilson who went 2-for-4, and marked a new season high of made 3-point field goals in a game.
Hitting milestones
In an eventful win, the Cyclones marked successful milestones during their time on the court, overall achieving much more than an improved 15-7 record.
On her second basket of the day, sophomore center Audi Crooks became the all-time leader for made field goals in a season, marking 192 after her shot.
Crooks surpassed center Tonya Burns at 191, who was the first woman in Iowa State history to have her jersey retired in 2000.
“Crooks is one of the best post players in the country,” Messer said. “Because she can rebound with the best and she can finish with the best.”
In contrast to Crooks, senior guard Emily Ryan has previously relied more on assisting during her limited minutes on the court.
However, with her secured five points during her 24 minutes of play, Ryan improved to the 12th spot on Iowa State’s all-time scoring list with 1,495 in her career.
