Cyclone Women Overcome Slow Start, Win Opener 65-38

Who’s ready for some Cyclones Women’s Basketball!?!?!? Iowa State started the season with their home opener against the Omaha Mavericks as they look to build on their preseason #12 ranking.

It was not an ideal start for the Cyclones as they started with a 3 and a half minute scoreless drought before Nyamer Diew (a transfer from Butler) got the Cyclones on the board with the first bucket of the season. Even with the final first bucket, it was a very slow starting 10 minutes for the Cyclones as they shot a measly 4 for 18 in the opening frame including 1 for 12 from beyond the arc (Lexi Donarski with the only made triple) and they found themselves down 1, 12 to 11, after the quarter.

The second quarter was a much better overall performance from the Cyclones as they outscored the Mavericks 17-6 as Ashley Joens and the rest of the team went to work.

And speaking of work, how about the All-American defensive performance from Sophomore Emily Ryan today? Just go ahead and call her Trevon Diggs (the current NFL leader in interceptions) with how many takeaways she had. NINE steals and another THREE blocks for Ryan as the defense of Iowa State stymied the Maverick offense, holding them to 6 and 9 points (nice) in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, as the Cyclones continued to build their lead. The 3-ball (and just shots in general) started falling and the rout was on.

The second of Iowa State’s star sophomore guards, Lexi Donarski, led the team with 18 points as Ashley Joens and freshman Izzi Zingaro let the Cyclones underneath with 8 and 7 rebounds respectively and as the final minutes wound down, the Cyclones continued to score more points than the previous quarter (11, 15, 19, 20), while limiting the Mavericks to just 11 points and wrapping up their first win of the season, 65-38. The win, by the way, puts the Cyclones in the lead of the Big 12 conference. So, take that... rest of the conference.

The Cyclones will look to build off this performance on 11/15 as they take on the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State at 6:30 p.m. at Hilton Coliseum.

GAME STATS

OMAHA MAVERICKS

IOWA STATE CYCLONES