Cyclones Fall to Texas, 68-53

Your 15th-ranked Iowa State Cyclones traveled to Austin to take on the Texas Longhorns in a battle of some of the top Big 12 teams. Fennelly going with the revamped lineup of Diew, Fritz, Ryan, Donarski, and Joens.

The game started off a bit sloppy, but both teams were able to settle in before the media timeout as Texas nursed a lead early. Ashley Joens 2-2 at this point with 5 quick points. Texas came out of the timeout with an 8-2 run, but the Cyclones found their rythem to hault the run. A fast-paced first quarter sees Iowa State trail, 23-15. The Longhorns shot 22 times compared to just 11 tries from ISU.

Both teams struggled out of the gates in the second quarter, but the Clonies strung together a few offensive possessions to bring it within a possession. The Lady Horns were able to stretch their lead back to nine almost instantaneously. Luckily, Iowa State still has Ashley Joens and Emily Ryan. The Cyclones crawled back before the break to make it just a 4-point Texas lead with 20 minutes to play, 35-31.

Iowa State stayed in their offensive flow throughout the start of the second half, eventually tying before heading into the media timeout with a 2-point deficit. Ashley Joens was willing her squad in the third quarter as she started 3-3 in quarter three. While the game was steady at this point, Texas was able to hold onto a 5-point lead heading into the fourth quarter, 52-47. The Longhorns outscored the Cyclones 17-16, which seemed good given the history of Iowa State in the third quarter.

Texas scored 6-straight in the first few minutes of the fourth quarter as the Cyclones went cold and could not get back into it. A 16-6 fourth quarter in favor of Texas would do it for this one in Austin, 68-53. Cyclones fall to 3-2 in Big 12 play.

Iowa State is back in action on Wednesday, January 18th as they play host to Oklahoma State (6:30 pm, ESPN+).