Iowa State women’s basketball faced its first road test of the season Nov. 20, making the short drive to Des Moines to take on in-state rival Drake.
The Cyclones made themselves right at home.
No. 15 Iowa State dominated for the majority of the night and rolled to an easy, 87-60 victory over the Bulldogs at the Knapp Center.
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“You come on the road in these in-state games and win like we did, I’m really, really pleased,” said Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly. “Really excited about it. I’m glad the bus ride home is a little better than it’s been in the past.”
Addy Brown, who finished with a triple-double in Iowa State’s last game, nearly tallied another one, with 15 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists Thursday. Audi Crooks scored 22 points for the Cyclones.
Anna Becker scored 22 points for Drake and the Bulldogs also got 14 points from Maggie Taylor. But it wasn’t nearly enough to slow down a strong Iowa State squad.
With the win, the Cyclones improved to 6-0 for the first time since the 2021-22 campaign. Drake fell to 1-3.
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Iowa State suffered a crushing 87-73 loss during its last visit to Des Moines to play Drake on Nov. 12, 2023. The Cyclones made sure that wouldn’t happen this time with Fennelly displaing the score from that game in the gym at a practice this week.
“Just kind of a little reminder of what happened and just to move on from it and then come in here with the right mindset and just go on from that,” said Iowa State guard Arianna Jackson, a Des Moines Roosevelt alum.
The Cyclones did just that, connecting on six of their first nine shots. Jackson made four of her first five from 3-point range and jump-started a 16-0 run.
Jackson hit back-to-back 3s in the run and then capped it off with another to give the Cyclones an early double-digit lead.
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Drake, meanwhile, couldn’t get going. The Bulldogs missed their first 10 shots of the game and didn’t tally a basket until Quinn Vice sank a 3-pointer nearly five minutes in.
Drake managed to score just five first-quarter points while shooting just 2-for-18 from the field.
The Cyclones continued rolling in the second quarter with a 10-0 run. A 3-pointer by Brown put the Cyclones up 43-11. When halftime rolled around, Iowa State’s lead grew to 52-18.
“We couldn’t have played any better in the first half,” Fennelly said.
Drake’s best stretch of the game came during a strong start to the third quarter. The Bulldogs opened the frame with a 14-0 run.
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Taylor sank a 3-pointer to cut Iowa State’s lead to 20. The Cyclones missed their first seven shots of the quarter and didn’t end the run until a layup by Crooks. Drake outscored Iowa State 29-16 in the third quarter.
Still, it wasn’t enough to stop the Cyclones, who never let Drake come within striking distance.
“We came out of halftime, I thought really looking like the Drake women’s basketball team that we want to be,” said Drake coach Allison Pohlman. “I mean, we were gritty. We fought. We kind of punched back a little bit. But against really fantastic teams, you can’t dig yourself that deep of a hole in the first quarter.”
Iowa State returns to the court Nov. 23 with a game against Mercyhurst.
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Drake heads to Nashville, Tenn., to play in the Music City Classic. The Bulldogs face Arkansas on Nov. 25 and Northern Kentucky on Nov. 26.
For Iowa State, it’s a shot to continue its strong start to the season.
“I think we’re headed in a great direction,” Jackson said. “Obviously no team is perfect. We have a lot of stuff to work on.”
Tommy Birch, the Register’s sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He’s the 2018, 2020 and 2023 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State women’s basketball earns big road win at Drake
