STORRS – No. 8-seeded Iowa State women’s basketball took the journey 20 hours east to Storrs, Connecticut, for the first round of the women’s March Madness Tournament against the No. 9-seeded Syracuse Orange.

Syracuse knocked off the Cyclones in a 72-63 win for the Orange. Iowa State’s largest lead was just three points at the very end of the first quarter, before Syracuse took a lead as large as 17.

Junior center Audi Crooks led scoring for the Cyclones with 37 points on 17-25 shooting, with junior guard Jada Williams following behind her with 14 points.

The two of them combined for 81% of the Cyclones’ scoring, with only three other players scoring. Juniors Addy Brown and Arianna Jackson both ended with five points and freshman Reese Beaty ended with two.

Beaty scored the very first bench point for the Cyclones with just under five minutes left in the fourth quarter. That bucket was the first and last time that someone off the bench put points on the scoreboard.

Redshirt junior Kenzie Hare was the only starter for the Cyclones to end with no points, shooting 0-7 and 0-6 from the 3-point line. 

Head coach Bill Fennelly called Hare’s name at the end of the game when the Cyclones were down by just five, but unfortunately for the Cyclones, a shot wouldn’t fall.

Hare has shot 41.9% from the three-point line across the 2025-26 season for Iowa State, with at least two 3-point makes in her previous seven games.

Alongside Hare, Sydney Harris, Alisa Williams and Evangelia Paulk didn’t record a point, on five or more minutes played.

On the other side of the ball, Syracuse sophomore guard Olivia Schmitt couldn’t miss in the first half. 

Schmitt drilled her first five shots of the game, all of which came from behind the line. She ended up closing the first half 5-6 from the 3-point line.

This came as a big surprise for the Cyclones, as Schmitt had averaged 1.3 points per game on 22% shooting this year. 

The sophomore guard’s season-high came in Schmitt’s very first game of the year, a 78-29 win over Wagner, where Schmitt scored six points. 

Schmitt’s on-fire shooting slowed down after her five straight makes as she’d end the game shooting 0-4 from beyond the line on her final four shots to close on 15 total points.

Schmitt’s scoring surprise helped balance the fact that Syracuse’s junior guard Sophie Burrows opened the game shooting 0-10 from the field, with five of those misses from behind the 3-point line.

Burrows averaged 11.2 points per game across the regular season and ACC Tournament this year and leads the Orange in total 3-point shots made this year with 54 made shots.

Burrows cold streak eventually ended, finishing the game with 14 total points. Six points came from behind the line at the end of the game, alongside six more free throws and a two-point field goal with six minutes left in the fourth.

This loss means the Cyclones’ season is over, and Syracuse will advance to play the No. 1 seed Connecticut Huskies. 

Connecticut is now 35-0 after a first-round victory against the University of Texas at San Antonio, where the Huskies won 90-52.

The second round matchup will be played on March 23 at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Connecticut.