No. 18 Iowa State takes down No. 14 Oklahoma

The No.18 Twister Sisters were back in action in a battle against No. 14 Oklahoma in a battle for first place in the Big 12, this time in Hilton Coliseum.

Texas, Oklahoma, and Iowa State are in a three-way tie in the Big 12 for first place. Ashley Joens led all scorers today with 32 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and two steals. All of Iowa State’s starters finished scoring in double figures.

Iowa State came into this contest after a dominating 40-point win against TCU. This was great momentum going into today as Iowa State looked for revenge against Oklahoma.

The last time these teams met was on January 8th when Iowa State took a massive blow to their post depth when two minutes into the contest in Norman, Iowa State’s center Stephanie Soares suffered a season-ending ACL injury. Oklahoma would go on to win a close one 82-79 due to a lights-out shooting performance by Nevaeh Tot and Ana Llanusa.

Oklahoma started the game out hot raining threes to put them up early. The Sooners led 26-18 after the first quarter thanks to Oklahoma’s Taylor Robertson shooting 3-4 from three early. Robinson nailed her 498th three of her career in today’s contest.

Iowa State’s Ashley Joens took that personally.

The senior guard had an electric first half scoring 20 points and shooting an outstanding 60% from both the field and behind the arc. This would help the Cyclones rally back before halftime and tie the game 42-42. The Cyclones outscored the Sooners 24-16 in the second quarter.

Oklahoma responded in the third quarter by pulling away with an eight-point lead 50-42. Iowa State then threw a punch back, got some defensive stops, and managed to pull away with a three-point lead with 3:14 left in the third quarter. Ashley Jones would score seven of her own in the third quarter to help cushion a 65-56 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Oklahoma battled back in the fourth quarter to make it a four-point game 71-67 with 4:32 left going into the Official TV timeout. Thanks to Ashley Joens, Emily Ryan, and Lexi Donarski the Cyclones pulled away with an eight-point lead and played well down the stretch while knocking down free throws. The Cyclones shot an outstanding 88% from the free-throw line today. Iowa State won 86-78 and now stands in first place in Big 12 play at 7-2.

Iowa State’s next matchup is Wednesday, February 1st against Kansas State (ESPN+) in Manhattan (6:30 pm, ESPN+).