Although the Texas women’s basketball program has been a national powerhouse in recent years, the Cyclones have figured out a way to solve it. Entering the new year, Iowa State had won six of the last nine matchups against the Longhorns. 

And late in Iowa State’s Big 12 home opener against No. 16 Texas on Sunday, coach Bill Fennelly and his team looked poised to put another notch in that win column. But the Cyclones fell short on New Year’s Day.

Iowa State (9-4, 0-2 Big 12) just couldn’t keep up with the high-powered and big Texas (8-4, 2-0 Big 12) offense late in the game, faltering down the stretch and losing 75-68 in front of 7,915 at Hilton Coliseum.

The team didn’t believe the loss was for a lack of trying. The Cyclones found success against a big Texas lineup, even on the boards, winning the rebounding margin 36-34. Guard Seanna Johnson had a team-high nine rebounds, including her 900th career board, making her the fastest player in program history to reach that mark.

“We tried to keep a lot of people around the basket,” Fennelly said. “I thought our kids really stuck their noses in. We just kept telling them, ‘You‘ve just got to fight them off, fight them off, fight them off.’ We weren’t going to grow any, it’s just about effort and want-to that we talked about.”

Because of Iowa State’s focus near the basket, Texas’ Ariel Atkins thrived. She put up a game-high 25 points on 11-of-17 shooting overall and 3-of-5 from 3-point range.

“We wanted to keep as many people around the basket as we could, which means Atkins got away from us a few times,” Fennelly said. “She’s a great player.”

In the first quarter, the Cyclones went toe to toe with the Longhorns, staying within a four-point margin and finishing the quarter up by one.

It was more of the same from the outset of the second quarter. But the Cyclones tapered off toward the end, struggling to score a basket. The Cyclones ended the half making two of their last 19 baskets and scoreless for the final 3:30.

Texas took advantage and went on a 11-0 run to go into the locker room up 41-30.

“You have to get going,” guard Jadda Buckley said about Fennelly’s halftime speech. “You can’t let them keep scoring baskets and you not score baskets. It’s basketball, you have to score if they score and score more and get stops.”

The Cyclones came streaking out of the half, going on a 9-0 run — Buckley had seven points of her own in that span — to pull within six points at 45-39. They kept up the impressive pace, cutting the lead to one near the end of the third quarter and almost grabbing the lead. 

In the waning seconds of the third quarter, forward Heather Bowe drove the basket and put a layup off the backboard and through the hoop. But the referees signaled a charge, much to the disliking of Fennelly and the Hilton Coliseum crowd.

Texas held a 49-46 lead going into the final quarter.

Fennelly, who was attempting to voice his displeasure with the referees at the scoring table, was restrained by his assistants after the quarter ended.

“There’s so many twists and turns in a game, and certainly that one didn’t go our way,” Fennelly said. “It goes your way, it’s a tie game and the place is going nuts. Instead, [it] goes against us.”

The Cyclone forwards ran into foul trouble in the last 10 minutes. Bowe, who drew her first career start for Iowa State, grabbed her fourth foul midway through the quarter. Meredith Burkhall picked hers up early in the period.

Iowa State was still able to battle, taking a 60-59 lead with 3:06 left to go. The Longhorns overcame, though, and closed out the game making five of their final five shots.

“We tried to answer challenges with some effort things because things just weren’t going our way,” Texas coach Karen Aston said. “When you play in this league, people are going to take away what you do best, and you’ve got to find a way to answer that. I thought, for the most part, we just scratched out a win. That’s about all you can call this. But we’ll take it.”