MANHATTAN, Kansas – Iowa State (17-10, 11-6 Big 12) ended No. 15 K-State’s 17-game win streak at home as Iowa State pulled off the gritty 82-76 road win Wednesday night. It is ISU’s fourth Top 25 victory this season, with three of them Top-15 ranked wins. Kansas State drops to 23-6 overall and 12-5 in conference play as Iowa State seals the season sweep over the Wildcats.
Kansas State had a hot start building a double-digit lead but Iowa State did not back down, coming back to go ahead by as much as three in the second quarter. After a tie at 33s at halftime, ISU never let any lead slip away shooting over 56 percent in the second half.
Addy Brown made her 20th double-digit scoring performance memorable with a game-leading 24 points, with 18 in the second half. Brown also had nine rebounds in the second half and totaled 11 through the contest for her ninth double-double.
Emily Ryan came one assist shy of a double-double as the point guard was magnificent putting up 11 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. Seven of her points came in the final two quarters. Ryan now officially holds the second-most career assists in school history now totaling 724. The senior is 22 off the record.
Audi Crooks had her 27th-straight game in double figures with 14 points, also pulling down seven rebounds. Hannah Belanger was the fourth with 10-plus points with 13.
How it Happened
The Wildcats began with a trio of early 3-pointers leading them to a 12-4 start five minutes into play. The K-State triples continued to fall, adding on another pair to take a 10-point lead of 18-8 with 3:49 left in the first. With less than a minute to go and the Cyclones down six, Belanger sent in the shot from deep assisted by Ryan to make it a 3-point game (18-15) as the buzzer sounded.
The Cyclones kept the momentum rolling into the second frame with ISU finding its first lead of 20-18 after an Crooks layup and Brown 3. The two teams battled it out, as five ties followed including one at 33-33 after a Crooks layup with 35 seconds on the clock. The score would hold entering halftime.
A Ryan 3-pointer kicked off the second half, while it remained a one-possession game throughout the third. At 5:15, Jalynn Bristow provided for another lead change with her 3-pointer making it 43-42, ISU. With under a minute remaining, a Bristow jumper and Brown triple would put the Cyclones up by four (54-50), while ISU closed the third with a layup by Natabou in the final seconds as Iowa State entered the fourth ahead 56-52.
K-State would tie it up at 56, and Brown answered with three buckets on straight ISU possessions to make it a lead of 64-61. Ryan continued her dominant performance sending in back-to-back layups to stretch a seven-point lead (68-61) midway through the final quarter. Out of the media timeout KSU its deficit down to three, but ISU built it back up to seven. Crooks put in a tough layup as the clock winded down under a minute to make it a six-point game. A trio of Brown free throws kept ISU up while K-State tried to get back in it with a triple, but the Cyclones would go on to seal the six-point victory.
Top Performance
Emily Ryan once again came close to a triple-double with 11 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. Ryan did a little bit of everything, also having two steals and a block.
Addy Brown was crucial in the second half, scoring 11 points in the final quarter alone. Brown shot at 88 percent in the third and fourth frames and totaled 24 points and 11 rebounds for the freshman’s ninth double-double.
Notes
- Iowa State women’s basketball’s all-time record moved to 844-663 (.560) and 331-351 (.485) all-time in conference games.
- Head coach Bill Fennelly‘s career record moved to 773-364 (.680). His Iowa State record is now 607-311 (.661) overall.
- ISU’s series record with Kansas State moves to 49-54 and 41-22 in the Fennelly era.
- The Cyclones earned their 82nd program win over an AP Top 25 team and their third of the season. ISU’s last road win against an AP Top 25 team was on Jan. 11, 2022 at then-No. 25 Kansas State.
- With Hannah Belanger’s 3-pointer in the first quarter, Iowa State has now recorded a triple in an NCAA women’s basketball record 921 consecutive games.
- Iowa State outrebounded K-State, 47-30. It is the 23rd time the Cyclones have outrebounded their opponent this season.
- Emily Ryan has recorded an assist in every collegiate game she has played in. Today, she finished with nine assists, moving her career total to 724. She has posted five or more assists in a single game 12 times this season and 80 times in her career.
- With her assist total, Ryan passed Lyndsey Medders (719) for the second-best career assists mark.
- Ryan scored her 1,200th career point and is now Iowa State’s 23rd all-time leading scorer with 1,209 points.
- Addy Brown scored a game-high 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the floor. It marked her fifth 20-point game and moves her season total to 360 points. She is four points from breaking into the ISU freshman top-5 leaderboard.
- Brown also pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds, recording her ninth double-double of the season.
- Audi Crooks (14) and Hannah Belanger (13) also finished with double-digit point totals.
- Crooks holds the program record for most points and field goals in a season by a freshman. She has scored 490 points and her 194 makes are seven from breaking into the program single-season top 10 regardless of class.
- Belanger also totaled her 250th point as a Cyclone as she has scored 251 points in the Cardinal and Gold.
- With seven rebounds, Crooks become the second ISU player this season to record over 200 rebounds. She has totaled 205 boards in her career.
- Isnelle Natabou secured her 750th career rebound. With four boards tonight, her career total moves to 752.
Up Next
Iowa State concludes regular season at home, hosting Cincinnati Saturday, March 2nd. Action begins at 1 p.m.
