NCAA.com Team of the Week, the Iowa State Cyclones not only put themselves back in top-16 seed conversation for the upcoming NCAA championship, but also avenged a pair of earlier season losses with wins over Texas and Baylor.
The Cyclones broke a three-game losing streak with a wire-to-wire 66-61 home win over No. 17 Texas on Feb. 13 as senior standout Ashley Joens led the way with 24 points and head coach Bill Fennelly notched his 750th career victory. The victory snapped a seven-game series skid to the Longhorns.
Fennelly became part of elite company as the 27th NCAA women's basketball head coach to reach the milestone of 750 and one of nine active coaches. Fennelly is also the 13th to get the total at the Division I level, with his first 166 career wins coming at Toledo. Fennelly is the longest-tenured coach in Big 12 Conference women's or men's basketball, and has led the Cyclones to 20 NCAA tournament appearances during his time in Ames, Iowa.
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On Saturday, Iowa State won 81-77 in double overtime on the road against Baylor, the only team that has defeated the Cyclones at home this season. The Cyclones hit seven 3-pointers in the second half to fuel the victory. Joens, who led the way with 27 points, rose to the occasion in the bonus periods, scoring 13 of her points in the extra 10 minutes. She also notched her 10th double-double of the season with 11 rebounds and dished out four assists. All Iowa State starters ended in double figures as Lexi Donarski (16), Denae Fritz (12), Emily Ryan (10) and Nyamer Diew (10) joined Joens.
With the 51 combined points against Texas and Baylor, Joens moved into No. 2 all-time in career points in Big 12 history, as the senior passed Oklahoma State's Andrea Riley's mark of 2,835 set from 2007-10. Joens now has 2,860 points for her career. Brittney Griner of Baylor is the all-time leader with 3,283 points.
The Cyclones, 17-7 overall and 9-5 in Big 12 play, will be back in action on Feb. 22 at Oklahoma State.
