A pair of ISU women’s basketball seniors will play their final game at Hilton Coliseum on Tuesday night against West Virginia, but their legacy and friendship will leave a lasting impression beyond the hardwood. 

Guard Kidd Blaskowsky and forward Madison Baier, two of the closest players on the team, own a friendship that goes beyond basketball. After four years together, the duo has shared a myriad of emotions. 

“It’s been amazing,” Blaskowsky said. “Defintely a long-term relationship that will go beyond our time at Iowa State.” 

But the friendship between Baier and Blaskowsky was an unlikely one. 

Blaskowsky hails from Sugar Land, Texas, and focuses on the long-range shot. Her recruitment to Iowa State was more cordial, with Fennelly talking with Blaskowsky, who talked to her parents and coaches. 

Baier’s path to Ames was almost the complete opposite.

Baier comes from Tama, Iowa, and her 6-foot-4 frame lends itself to a ground-and-pound type of post game, almost completely opposite from Blaskowsky. Her eager attitude was shown in her commitment to Iowa State.  

When ISU coach Bill Fennelly was on the road in St. Louis to watch the Cardinals play at Busch Stadium, he called Baier to offer her a scholarship. Baier was so excited her mom had to take the phone. 

“She was crying so hard that she couldn’t even talk,” Fennelly said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever had a kid that excited.”

When the two players met at a basketball camp before Iowa State, Baier didn’t exactly think of Blaskowsky as her partner in crime for years to come. 

What first struck Baier was Blaskowsky’s tight bun on the left side of her head, a hairdo Blaskowsky still wears. 

“If she had another bun on the side of her head, she’d look like a teddy bear,” Baier said. “And I even told her that. I was just thinking, ‘This girl is crazy. What is she doing?'”

But despite the differences, Baier and Blaskowsky grew closer and closer. After practices, especially tougher ones, they would unwind by cracking jokes with each other. That habit has crept into their senior season, and it’s happened more often this season, as the team sits with a losing record. 

“It’s one of the great things about college sports — you get a city kid from Houston with a small-town Iowa kid,” Fennelly said. “That’s what college is supposed to be about — broaden your horizons and your life.”

The pair lived together for part of their time at Iowas State. Blaskowsky claims Baier is like a second mom to her, cleaning and cooking. Baier said Blaskowsky is an expert at giving advice. 

No matter the give and take in the relationship, there isn’t anyone else who they’d rather go through college together with.

“She’s just been such a great positive influence on me,” Baier said. “We’ve shared laughs and cried and we’ve been mad. She’s been a great teammate and a great friend, and I can’t thank her enough for what’s she’s done for me.”

Entering their senior season together, they braced for one last hurrah in an ISU uniform. Looking at it in November, with more than 30 games to play, the end seemed so far. 

Now, just hours away from their last game in front of a home crowd, the end is staring them right in the face. 

To honor the seniors, the program is acknowledging them and their families before the game. And after the game, both players’ pre-recorded speeches will air on the video board. Also, each senior will start the game, which means more for Baier, who hasn’t started a game in her four-year ISU career. 

“I don’t think that it’s quite hit me yet that it’ll be my last night in Hilton,” Blaskowsky said. “It’s been a journey, and it’s been one that I’ll never forget. The amount of effort and heart that I’ve put into this program and my teammates and the relationships I’ve built with fans.

“It’s been an honor to wear the uniform. I don’t really know how to explain how I feel right now just cause emotions are all over the place.”

There is one thing the duo knows, and that’s that they will finish their ISU careers with each other, and even though the two played together on the court, that’s the least of what memories they’ll have later in life. 

“We’ll look back on it years from now on vacation somewhere, looking back on all the good times we had together,” Blaskowsky said. “It’s definitely going to be one to remember and I won’t take it for granted.”