(Mike Carey postgame Zoom conference)
In its first game without injured point guard Madisen Smith, No. 18 West Virginia fell flat on the road, losing to Iowa State 85-68 at Hilton Coliseum.
“Evidently Madisen Smith is our energy,” WVU coach Mike Carey said. “I need at least one of them bring the energy and get everybody going.”
Smith suffered an injury in Saturday’s win over TCU and West Virginia struggled for much of its first contest without her. The Mountaineers (17-4, 11-4) faced a 66-50 deficit entering the fourth quarter and never drew any closer.
“We’re putting people in different positions and this was the first time we did it live in a game,” Carey said.
Despite shooting 56 percent in the opening half, West Virginia trailed 46-38 at the break thanks in large part to defensive struggles and 10 turnovers.
Three Cyclones — Kristin Scott, Ashley Joens and Lexi Donarski — reached double figure in the opening half, with the trio combining for 39 points on 13-of-23 shooting, including 6-of-12 on 3-pointers.
“We weren’t defending and even when we did, we didn’t box out and they got offensive rebounds,” Carey said. “We didn’t rotate well.”
West Virginia held an early 19-12 lead following consecutive triples from Kysre Gondrezick and Jasmine Carson, but the Cyclones closed the first quarter on a 14-5 spurt over the final 4:11.
With the game tied at 30 nearing the midway point of the second period, the Cyclones pulled ahead for good with a 9-2 run in a span of 1:41. Scott scored the first six points on a conventional three-point play and a 3, before Donarski made a trey to give ISU (15-9, 11-6) the 39-32 lead.
WVU got back to within 48-43 at the 8:12 mark of the third quarter on Kari Niblack’s three-point play, but Iowa State reeled off 18 points over the final 6:40 of the period to take a comfortable lead into the fourth.
“I’m playing some players a lot more minutes than in the past and it showed tonight,” Carey said.
Gondrezick led the Mountaineers with 19 points, while Kirsten “KK” Deans added 14. Jayla Hemingway scored 12 in the Mountaineers’ second setback in their last 14 games.
WVU dressed only eight players and early foul trouble limited Esmery Martinez to 2 first half minutes, while Carey said Niblack, “wasn’t feeling well and I almost didn’t even play her.”
The Cyclones, who made 13-of-27 triples, had five double figure scorers led by Joens’ 20 points. Donarski and Scott scored 18 apiece, while reserves Emily Ryan and Kylie Feuerbach added 13 and 10, respectively.
The Cyclones also made all 14 of their free throw attempts.
“Give Iowa State all the credit,” Carey said. “They played harder than we did. We acted like we had no legs, no energy, no nothing.”
West Virginia, which defeated Iowa State 65-56 earlier this month, has three regular season road games remaining starting Saturday at Kansas.