Ashley Joens had 22 points, reaching 3,000 for her career, and eight rebounds and teammates Lexi Donarski and Nyamer Diew were efficient in scoring 20 and 19 points, respectively, as the Iowa State Cyclones hung on to defeat the No. 14 Oklahoma Sooners 82-72 Saturday afternoon at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City.
3️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣!
Ashley Joens is the 14th player in NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball history to reach 3K for her career!
— Cyclone Basketball (@CycloneWBB) March 11, 2023
The Sooners cut it to six on a Madi Williams jumper at 4:24 remaining, but would get no closer. Joens answered with a layup at 3:52 and Diew hit a three at 3:33 to make it 75-64 Cyclones. Nevaeh Tot cut it back to eight with a triple at 3:12, but Emily Ryan (nine points, five rebounds, five assists, two blocks) canceled it out with her own tray at 2:28. Free throws from Donarski and Joens helped close things out down the stretch.
Iowa State (21-9, 11-7 Big 12) advances to play No. 15 Texas in the Big 12 Tournament championship game on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET (ESPN2). The Cyclones were a No. 6 seed in ESPN’s bracketology prior to Saturday; Oklahoma was a No. 5 seed and Texas was a No. 4 seed. No. 4 seeds and higher will host the first two rounds of…
