No. 15 Iowa State Holds Off UNI, 70-69

Sunday, December 12

Ames, Iowa

5:00 PM

Iowa State

10-1,0-0Big 12

UNI

6-3,0-0MVC

Team	1	2	3	4	F
UNI	20	3	22	24	69
Iowa St.	17	17	18	18	70

No. 15 Iowa State Holds Off UNI, 70-69

12.12.2021 | Women's Basketball

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AMES, Iowa – No. 15 Iowa State (10-1) was able to battle through a comeback effort from UNI (6-2) to take down the Panthers 70-69 Sunday evening at Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones were ahead by 11 in the third quarter, before UNI was able to cut the Iowa State advantage down to one in the final minute. Iowa State was able to survive going scoreless in the final 2:14 of the contest, coming up with three stops on UNI's final possession to hang onto the win.

The win gives Iowa State a 3-0 season sweep of its in-state foes for the ninth time under head coach Bill Fennelly, and the first time since the 2013-14 season. In addition, ISU posted the best round-robin record against its in-state foes among the quartet for the 15th time under Fennelly.

Leading the Iowa State effort was Lexi Donarski, who posted a team-best 19 points which included four 3-pointers. Morgan Kane had the best game of her Iowa State career, tying her career-best with 13 points and grabbing a career-high 11 rebounds for her first double-double. Ashley Joens finished with 12 points and eight rebounds, while Emily Ryan dished out nine assists.

How It Happened
Both teams were able to find some early success in the paint, with each team getting 10 points apiece in the lane. The Panthers' first 14 points all came in the paint, with their first outside the paint coming when Kam Finley hit a free throw on an old-fashioned three-point play to move ahead 15-13. Finley got a second-chance lay-in with 19 seconds to go to give UNI a 20-17 lead after one.

Morgan Kane continued to make herself available, getting the first five points of the second to move ISU ahead 22-20. Kane's lay-in with 45 seconds left extended ISU's lead into double figures, the redshirt junior finishing the half with 11 points on 5-of-5 shooting and nine rebounds. Meanwhile, the Panther offense struggled, going just 1-of-14 from the field in the period, including 0-of-7 from 3-point range as the Cyclones went to the locker room ahead 34-23.

UNI was able to break its scoring skid to start the third and the ISU lead back into single-digits, and eventually cut the lead to four at 41-37 on a Finley transition 3-pointer. Lexi Donarski hit a pair of 3-pointers, while Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw hit one of her own to get ISU out of its funk and push the Cyclones back ahead by seven, 52-45 to start the fourth.

Finley hit a 3-pointer to open the quarter and cut the ISU lead to four and then brought the Cyclone lead down to one possession with a 3-pointer form Bre Gunnels at 57-54. Sara McCullough's 3-pointer cut the ISU lead to a pair, but Donarski immediately responded the next possession with a trey of her own. The Joens sisters then combined for the crucial juncture point, with Ashley drawing a charge and Aubrey hitting a 3-pointer the next possession to make it 67-59 ISU.

Ashley Joens hit a corner 3-pointer to move ahead 70-61 with 2:14 to go, but UNI battled back, scoring on three-straight possessions and getting three-straight stops, capped by Emerson Green's 3-point play to make it 70-69 with 34 seconds left. Donarski lost the ball to Karli Rucker in the backcourt, but was able to strip Rucker to prevent a lay-in. Ashley Joens blocked Finley and then Rucker's final shot from 14 feet hit the back iron, with UNI unable to get another shot up before time expired.

Players of Note
Lexi Donarski has now been in double figures in 10 of 11 games this season, leading ISU with 19 points, which included four 3-pointers. She also grabbed a season-high eight rebounds.

Morgan Kane had the best game of her Iowa State career, getting her first double-double in Cardinal and Gold by matching her career-high with 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting and grabbing a career-best 11 rebounds.

Ashley Joens notched 12 points to reach exactly 1,900 for her career. She also had eight rebounds.

Up Next
Iowa State will be back at Hilton Coliseum next Sunday, Dec. 21, at 5 p.m. for its final non-conference game and final game of 2021 against Prairie View A&M. The game will be streamed on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.