MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Iowa State head coach Bill Fennelly didn’t hold back describing the 21st-ranked Cyclones’ performance Saturday at West Virginia.
“That was probably the worst game we’ve played all season,” Fennelly said.
At least some of that had to do with the Mountaineers, who outscored Iowa State by 14 points after halftime to secure an important 73-60 victory at the WVU Coliseum.
“It was important for us that we had the ability to play with great toughness, regardless of the outcome,” West Virginia head coach Dawn Plitzuweit said. “Certainly the outcome was great, but we needed to adjust some things and be a gritty team defensively.”
It was the annual pink night for West Virginia (15-8, 6-6), which donned white and pink jerseys with pink sneakers, and used the outing as an effort to raise awareness for breast cancer.
WVU played a mostly solid first half, but Iowa State (15-7, 7-5) ended it with six unanswered points to lead, 35-34.
Six-foot-1 wing Ashley Joens, the Cyclones’ go-to offensive option, went to the break with 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting and seven rebounds, both of which were game-high totals.
“Ashley Joens is a great player and can score wherever on the court,” said WVU’s Kyah Watson.
But the Mountaineers were far more effective in their ability to limit Joens over the final two quarters, and it helped WVU move in front for good during the third period.
Iowa State’s last lead proved to be 40-39 after Denae Fritz scored inside with 7:09 left in the third.
The matchup was tied at 41 and 43 before Watson’s jumper gave West Virginia a two-point lead at the 3:34 mark of the frame. The Cyclones still trailed by two after a Fritz layup made it 49-47, but WVU closed the quarter on a key 7-1 spurt over the final 1:06.
That stretch began with guard Madisen Smith scoring off an ISU turnover and also featured two Smith free throws a corner three-pointer from Danni Nichols, who beat the buzzer after receiving a pass from teammate Sarah Bates.
“That was a momentum swing for us,” Plitzuweit said, “and we thought they could go into a zone at that point in time. Danni certainly answered, but Sarah Bates had a great pass, too.”
Holding their biggest lead at 56-48 to start the fourth, the Mountaineers quickly moved their advantage to double figures on the strength of JJ Quinerly’s conventional three-point play.
Two free throws from Nichols with 5:56 left put the Cyclones in their biggest hole up that point, 63-50.
ISU, chosen to win the Big 12 in the league’s preseason poll, countered with five straight points and pulled to within eight on a Nyamer Diet triple at the 5:01 mark.
The Cyclones got within eight once more on Joens’ only second-half field goal that trimmed WVU’s lead to 65-57 with 2:50 to play, but Iowa State made only one more basket — an Emily Ryan layup as time expired.
“We did a better job defending and we had stretches where we didn’t score efficiently, but those are spots when you have to rely on your defense,” Plitzuweit said.
The outcome was made all the more impressive by the fact that two WVU starters suffered second-half injuries and both left the game for good. Kylee Blacksten, a 6-3 forward, exited during the third quarter with an ankle injury, before Jayla Hemingway did likewise in the fourth quarter with what also appeared to be ankle injury.
Both players were in a walking boot afterward.
“It is very sad that both Kylee and Jayla are injured right now, but they were excited in the locker room,” Watson said.
Additionally, WVU played without one of its key reserves in Savannah Samuel, who Plitzuweit confirmed missed the contest due to an injury.
“We better get healthy,” Plitzuweit said. “I like where our intensity was and I thought our practice [Friday] was probably our best practice of the year, so I like that aspect of where we’re heading. It was important for us to carry that over into a game and when things weren’t going our way in the end of the second quarter and they took a lead on us, our resilience and composure were really good.”
Quinerly scored 10 points in each half to pace the Mountaineers’ attack. She made 7-of-13 shots and 6-of-8 free throws and added three rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals.
“She’s an all-conference player,” Fennelly said. “No question about it.”
Watson contributed a double-double of 11 points and 12 rebounds, while Hemingway narrowly missed out on one with nine points and 12 boards.
Smith and Isis Beh scored nine apiece in the victory.
Joens finished with 17 points and nine rebounds. She made 6-of-12 shots, but was limited to 1-for-3 shooting in the second half.
“They came a little harder with the double team and did a good job of helping,” Fennelly said. “She made some bad decisions and forced a couple where she should’ve kicked it. They’re a good, physical defensive team that can rotate out of situational stuff.”
Ryan added 13 points with seven rebounds and four assists, but she was responsible for five of her team’s 17 turnovers.
Fritz scored 11 points, making 7-of-8 free throws to give the Cyclones a third double-figure scorer.
ISU made 15-of-28 two-point field goals, but was 5 for 30 on threes.
The Mountaineers lost their first meeting this season to Iowa State, 70-50, back on January 4. Stephanie Soares had 13 points and 20 rebounds in that matchup, but has since suffered a season-ending knee injury.
This time around, WVU finished with a 38-29 rebounding advantage, an 18-4 edge in bench points and scored 14 points off turnovers to Iowa State’s four.
“Rebounding was a focus for us in practice this week,” Watson said, “and we wanted to really crash the boards, both offensive and defensive.”