Iowa State women's basketball aiming to carry momentum from Texas win into Baylor matchup
AMES – The Iowa State women’s basketball team’s victory over Texas Monday opened up tons of opportunities for the struggling Cyclones.
The win not only snapped a three-game losing streak for the Cyclones, but kept them in contention for a Big 12 Conference regular season title.
All that could slip away with another setback Saturday. That’s why No. 20 Iowa State's (16-7 overall, 8-5 in Big 12) 5 p.m. showdown at Baylor (16-9, 7-6) is so important. Another victory would inch the Cyclones a little bit closer to those goals. But another loss could have giant ramifications.
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“We’re at a point in the season now where there’s some really good things that could happen,” said Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly. “But if we don’t do our job, it can’t happen.”
The biggest goal still standing out there for Iowa State: The Big 12 title the Cyclones were picked to win before the season started. Iowa State nearly fell completely out of contention with a three-game skid earlier this month, their longest losing streak of the season. But after taking down first-place Texas, the Cyclones are still somewhat in the picture. Iowa State and Oklahoma State are both three games back of Texas and Oklahoma, who are tied for first place.
Iowa State has five games remaining on its schedule to make up the ground, including a showdown with Oklahoma State. Texas and Oklahoma still meet one more time this season and the Sooners wrap up the regular season at Oklahoma State. It’s a tough journey to the top, but there's a path as long as the Cyclones avoid any stumbles and get some help along the way.
“I think our team understands that there’s opportunities to do a lot of stuff yet and obviously for us to try and contend for a championship, a lot of things have to happen,” Fennelly said. “But, it happened on Monday night, So, why not keep going and the way the league has gone this year, you can’t really predict it.”
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Another thing at stake is home-court advantage. The top four seeds in the NCAA tournament get to host the first two rounds. It would be a big opportunity for Iowa State, which has played some of its best basketball at home this season. ESPN women’s basketball bracketologist Charlie Creme had Iowa State as a 5-seed following the win over Texas. A win on Saturday could inch them closer to the 4-seed. But it won’t be an easy task for the Cyclones, who suffered a 76-70 loss to Baylor at home earlier this month.
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“Beating Texas isn’t going to help us beat Baylor unless we do the things that we did to beat Texas,” Fennelly said.
That means defending well and shooting well from beyond the arc, something the Cyclones have struggled with throughout the season. But the hope is that after the impressive showing against the Longhorns, Iowa State has picked up some much-needed momentum heading into Saturday's game.
"There's a lot of opportunities in front of us," Fennelly said. "Our league is kind of like the men's league. You never know who's going to do what on a given night. So, let's control what we can and show up and compete."
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: The Iowa State women's basketball team took down Texas Monday. What's next?
