Iowa State women's basketball advances to Big 12 semifinals with win over West Virginia

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Throughout the Iowa State women’s basketball team’s historic seasons Cyclones coach Bill Fennelly has gone out of his way to praise the play of star point guard Emily Ryan.

Fennelly has called Ryan one of the best point guards in the entire country and credited her with a big bulk of the team’s success this season.

She showed why Friday.

Ryan came up with two big baskets in the fourth quarter as the seventh-ranked Cyclones held off an upset by West Virginia with a 66-60 win over the Mountaineers in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament at Municipal Auditorium Friday night. Iowa State moved onto Saturday’s semifinals in large part to Ryan’s big playmaking at the end of the game.

“At the end of the game, there’s a reason she’s got the ball,” Fennelly said. “She made the right plays at the right time for her team. That’s all she cares about.”

Ryan made some of the biggest plays of the night for the Cyclones who let a 21-point lead disappear after a strong third and fourth quarter by West Virginia. The Mountaineers, who put on the defensive pressure and started knocking down some big-time shots, used a 16-2 run to cut the lead to single digits. West Virginia even cut it to six with 5 minutes and 50 seconds remaining on a layup by Savannah Samuel.

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But Ryan, singlehandedly, kept the Mountaineers from completing the comeback. After Samuel’s layup, Ryan knocked down a pair of free throws to push Iowa State’s lead back to eight. When Samuel hit a free throw to make it a seven-point game, Ryan answered again with a jumper in the paint. But she wasn’t done. West Virginia’s JJ Quinerly knocked down a pair of free throws to make it a 60-52 Iowa State game. But Ryan responded with a layup to give Iowa State some more breathing room.

“Toward the end of the game, third quarter, our offense got stagnant,” Ryan said. “So, coach did a great job of calling up the right plays that got us moving and got open looks for us.”

Ryan took advantage of the opportunities when Iowa State needed them most. The Cyclones connected on just two of their final 13 field goal attempts. They both came from Ryan who finished the night with 14 points, six assists, five rebounds and four steals while playing all 40 minutes.

“The kid is a winner,” Fennelly said.

Iowa State, the second seed in the tournament, was well on its way to another easy win over West Virginia, the seven seed. The Cyclones had rolled in both of their regular season showdowns with the Mountaineers. Friday looked a lot like that with Iowa State going on a 12-0 run and taking a commanding 38-24 lead in the second quarter. The Cyclones scored the first seven points of the third quarter and built up a 49-28 lead on a layup by Morgan Kane. But the Cyclones quickly cooled off and shot just 19% (4-of-21) from the field in the third quarter and 20% (3-15) in the fourth quarter.

“Their defense kind of picked up,” Iowa State senior Ashley Joens said. “They played more physical and they went on their run.”

That’s when Ryan stepped up. She got some help though. Lexi Donarski knocked down three free throws in the final 20.2 seconds left. Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw added another for the Cyclones who survived the scare. Joens finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds. Donarski added 14 points and seven rebounds.

It now sets the stage for another potentially tough showdown for Iowa State. The Cyclones will take on the winner of the quarterfinal game between Kansas State and Texas. Both teams have posed problems for Iowa State.

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The Cyclones needed a big bank shot by Espenmiller-McGraw to win at Kansas State. Texas, meanwhile, is one of two Big 12 teams to take down Iowa State this season. The other, Baylor, is lurking on the other side of the bracket as a team Iowa State could potentially see in the finals. Their physicality, a strong version then what Iowa State saw against West Virginia, has given the Cyclones issues all season.

But Ryan insists Iowa State is ready for the challenge.

“It’s March,” Ryan said. “We’re going to have physical basketball moving forward.”

Tommy Birch, the Register's sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He's the 2018 and 2020 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468. Follow him on Twitter @TommyBirch.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State women's basketball beats WVU, moves on to Big 12 semifinals