In a back-and-forth game, No. 11 seed Iowa State’s season came to a close with an 80-74 loss to No. 6 seed Michigan in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday.

Finishing the season with a 23-12 record, Iowa State did not finish exactly how it had expected at the start of the year. Going from the preseason No. 8 team to an 11 seed in March Madness, things were never easy for the Cyclones.

“I think we had a really successful year. Had a lot of wins. Showed up [Friday], and all the times we played in March,” sophomore center Audi Crooks said. “Super proud of this team as individuals and as a collective.”

The Cyclones came into the game as slight underdogs but had some momentum built after a comeback win over Princeton in the First Four on Wednesday. In fact, Iowa State led by as much as 10 on Friday but was unable to hold off the young and energetic Wolverines team.

Emily Ryan’s final game

The last four games that fifth-year senior guard Emily Ryan has played in felt like there was even more on the line, and that’s because there was some uncertainty in each one about whether or not she would get another game afterward.

Ryan finishes her career as one of the greatest Cyclone point guards ever and one of the best passers as well. In the game against Princeton, Ryan became the Big 12’s all-time assists leader and holds a Cyclone assists record that will likely not be touched for a long time.

“Really gonna miss her, [Ryan’s presence],” sophomore forward Addy Brown said. “She’s the ultimate teammate, so just gonna be really hard to see her go. We’ll do our best to, you know, continue to keep up.”

In Ryan’s final collegiate game, she had seven points, five assists and two blocks, doing her best to give the Cyclones a chance. The future is uncertain as far as who will be at the forefront of the Cyclone offense, but freshman guard Reagan Wilson was lucky enough to spend a season under Ryan. 

Cyclones struggle against smaller Michigan

Iowa State has seen plenty of teams that play with a traditional lineup, using a few guards, a few forwards and one center. The Wolverines were not like that, though, and put out a starting lineup of five guard-like players.

Crooks usually has someone who plays similarly to her on opposing teams but had a very different defensive matchup. The rotating and closing out on shooters was abnormal for the Cyclones.

“It was a tremendous challenge, they’re very skilled, interchangeable parts,” Iowa State head coach Bill Fennelly said. “It put our defense in extra stress, because there’s not a match for [Crooks] that she normally would guard.”

On the offensive end, the Cyclones took advantage of the small-ball lineup from the Wolverines. 36 of the Cyclones’ 74 points came from the paint, compared to just 20 from Michigan. 

“Offensively, I think we kind of took advantage of that on the interior,” Crooks said. “It goes both ways, it was kind of weird for us. We haven’t seen that in our conference, really, a five-guard starting lineup.”

Crooks and Brown try to save the Cyclones

All season long, Brown and Crooks did their best to dominate games, and a lot of times, they succeeded. Crooks finished with 28 points and seven rebounds, while Brown neared another triple-double with eight points, 10 assists and nine rebounds. 

“They were a fun, competitive team, but we threw our punches as well,” Crooks said. “It just came down to the wire, really. It was an exciting game.”

Michigan did its best to push the pace of the game and put Crooks and Brown in uncomfortable situations, but they did a good job trying to counter the fast Wolverine team.

“We knew they were gonna try to run the floor, that’s what they do best,” Brown said. “I think we handled it pretty well. We got back in transition, I mean we knew we couldn’t spend too much time crashing the boards because they were gonna run it up the floor.”

The Cyclones’ season finishes with a tough loss in the Round of 64 in the NCAA Tournament, but there is still a lot to be happy about for Fennelly.

“Obviously disappointed in the result of one game,” Fennelly said. “But this team has done so much for our school, I think, for women’s basketball, for the Big 12, and probably more importantly, they’ve done a lot for me.”