By: Jordan Hamann
AMES, IOWA— The first-half for the Cyclones offensively just was not there. Bridget Carleton, the junior guard for the Cyclones, who was supposed to be a huge offensive help for them just wasn’t having her best game. She did lead the Cyclones with 17 points.
A big help offensively from Adriana Camber, the sophomore forward for the Cyclones, who finished with 11 points. She was a huge boost in the second-half going 4-of-8, 3-of-4 from three-point range. Rebounding was another big issue for the Cyclones as they were continuously failing to box out at times they really needed to.
“I think we’re just not boxing out. Like, we need to stress boxing out — [that includes] everyone, not just the posts’— and then other people need to come and help us rebound,” Bride Kennedy-Hopoate, the junior forward for the Cyclones said.
“We weren’t able to convert on offense. We didn’t shoot well at all— I didn’t shoot well at all from the field— so that hurt us,” said Carleton.
Collectively as a group, the Cyclones shot 30% from the field, 27% from three-point range and forced 16 turnovers on Iowa.
“I thought defensively, we couldn’t have played much better to hold them to sixty-one points,” Iowa State Coach Bill Fennelly said.
For the Hawkeyes, winning this contest was carried by Makenzie Meyer who led this team with 18 points. Meyer was a huge boost going 4-of-4 from three-point range in the first-half but cooled down in the second-half. She did get to the free throw line five times going 4-of-5 from the stripe. The Hawks offense also saw big contributions from Megan Gustafson who had 16 points. Gustafson had no three-point baskets tonight’s contest.
“You know we’re very excited about this win,” Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder said, “It’s been a long time since we won here, [and] we didn’t play our best game was because of Iowa State’s defense. They did a tremendous job.”
Bluder commended Meyer. “I think its so fitting that an Iowa girl is the leading scorer in this game.”
Bluder also said that she felt that her team didn’t execute the game plan offensively, knowing very well that they were capable of making shots and “got gun shy.
“Defensively, I’m really happy with my team. I thought we did a great job defensively. I thought Kathleen Doyle played great defense. Carleton is an unbelievable player and it took everything for us to really control her.”
Collectively as a group, the Hawkeyes shot 38% from the field, 35% from three-point range and forced 11 turnovers on Iowa State.
Defensively for both teams, Iowa State held an Iowa team that scores 80-plus ppg to just 61. That a great effort on their part, offensively just could not close this one out. This is the first time since 2002-2003 that Iowa State has gone 0-of-3 against all three in-state rivals in women’s basketball.
“Basketball is a game of shooters and makers,” said Fennelly, “and we were shooting it tonight, [but] we weren’t making it.
Fennelly stressed that he was “disappointed that his team’s effort [tonight] was not rewarded, but proud of how they competed. They went for two and we kicked a field goal.”
The Cyclones have been in these types of close game situations before. “All you can do is to keep playing,” Fennelly said.
Cyclones move to 3-5 on the season, and the Hawkeyes move to 9-1. Tonights win for Iowa breaks the 10-game CyHawk win streak the Cyclones had here at Hilton Coliseum. That streak dates back to the 1989-90 season.
The Cyclones return to Hilton Coliseum on Sunday to take on North Carolina State. Tip-off begins at 12:30 CDT.
