AMES — In the final game of the regular season, Iowa State picked up a statement win over No. 14 Kansas State, 85-63, with the help of a big game from fifth-year senior guard Emily Ryan in her final game in Hilton Coliseum.

It was senior day for Iowa State, which meant the Cyclones were celebrating their lone senior, Ryan, all day long. An emotional Ryan talked about what it has meant to play in Hilton.

“Just a ton of gratitude is what has been going through my mind ever since the last buzzer has gone off,” Ryan said. “Just how grateful I am to play here and to play for these coaches and have teammates like I do.”

Ryan scored on the first possession, putting in a floater from the baseline. The scoring didn’t end there, as Ryan finished with 17 points on the day. With 10 assists and seven rebounds to go along with it, Ryan put together arguably her best performance of the season.

“If you wrote a story like ‘This is how Emily Ryan’s career at Hilton should end,’ you wrote exactly what happened today,” head coach Bill Fennelly said. “That never happens. I mean, she played well, the crowd was into the game, her team played well.”

The way Fennelly describes it, Ryan had a storybook ending to her career in Hilton Coliseum. With some uncertainty about how many more games they play together, it was a good way for the Cyclones to send her off in Ames.

“Today was incredibly special, not just for me, but our whole team,” Ryan said. “This is a massive win for us, and the team showed up ready to go. I couldn’t be more proud of how we showed up tonight.”

Throughout the entire game, Ryan faced very tight defense and constant pressure while she was bringing the ball up the court. As the primary ball handler for 36 of the 40 minutes of game time, she had some bumps and bruises.

At one point during the game, Ryan had to change into a No. 52 jersey because her No. 11 jersey got a little bloody. 

“Yeah, so much blood everywhere, all night long,” Ryan said. “I was 11, I was 52, and then I got back to 11. So yeah, something about playing K-State and wearing 52.”

Despite the bloody jerseys, Ryan matched her season-high in minutes played with 36, the most since Nov. 30. She has been somewhat limited in the minutes department with some lingering injuries, but she played through all of it on Sunday.

“She was only supposed to play 32 to 34 [minutes]. That was my fault,” Fennelly said. “I’m sure when I walk out of here, I’ll be called into the principal training room office, but she’s worked really hard to increase the things that her team’s allowed her to do physically.”

After the game, there was a ceremony that honored the seniors in the program, which included two team managers and Ryan. As the lone senior on the team, the Cyclones embraced Ryan and all she has done for Iowa State. 

In a prerecorded message shown during the post-game ceremony, Ryan talked about wanting to be remembered as a good person and teammate above anything else, and it is fair to say her teammates will remember her that way.

“The best [teammate], simply put, the best,” sophomore forward Addy Brown said. “Just everything she does, you know, she leads by example, and that’s what a true leader does.”

Along with it being a special day for Ryan, it was also the Cyclones’ only ranked win of the regular season. Ryan has been part of some great Cyclone teams and was a big factor in winning on Sunday.

“I think that these are the moments that she’ll remember forever,” Fennelly said. “Obviously, beating a good team, she knows what we’re up against, and beating a good team from her home state, all those good things.”

The energy and atmosphere inside of Hilton Coliseum and from the entire team to help Ryan put a good ending to her career in Ames was something that Fennelly will remember most about this day. 

“The way her teammates, from the moment she walked in the building to the moment she walked out, it was all about her,” Fennelly said. “I mean, there’s balloons, streamers and they decorated her locker. It looked like a 16-year-old’s birthday party.”

The win was incredible, but the mark Ryan has left on the Iowa State program is even better.

“What I told our players after the game is, ‘we are all better off in our program having Emily Ryan in our life,’” Fennelly said.