No. 22 Iowa State women’s basketball knocks off No. 17 Texas, 66-61

AMES — Denae Fritz didn’t hesitate.

The Iowa State women’s basketball freshman guard stood in the corner as teammate Emily Ryan slung her the pass. She set herself, gathered in the basketball and prepared to hit a key shot in a fraught moment.

The result? Swish.

Fritz’s clutch 3-pointer with 37 seconds left essentially sealed the No. 22 Cyclones’ rousing 66-61 win over 17th-ranked Texas Monday Night at Hilton Coliseum.

“I just shot the ball kind like any other three,” said Fritz, who helped ISU (16-7, 8-5 Big 12) snap a seven-game skid against the first-place Longhorns (20-7, 11-3). “I didn’t really think about how much time was left. I just knew it was getting late in the hot clock and I had to shoot it regardless. Emily threw me the ball and I just shot it.”

That shot propelled her head coach, Bill Fennelly, to his 750th career victory. He’s just the 27th coach all-time to notch that many wins — and the 13th to record all of those victories for Division I programs.

“This place is so special and what they’ve done for me and my family, there’s no way to quantify that,” said Fennelly, who’s in his 28th season leading ISU’s program. “I’ve had a lot of great coaches, a lot of great players and I feel really lucky that a place like Iowa State has allowed me to do this for as long as I have.”

Ashley Joens led the Cyclones with 24 points and eight rebounds. ISU led by as many as 14 points before Texas rallied to trail 58-55 with 2:52 left. Joens then converted a 3-point play, before Longhorns star point guard Rori Harmon converted a layup to make the score 61-57 with 1:24 remaining. Cue Fritz — who hit her big shot 47 seconds later after teammate Nyamer Diew secured an offensive rebound to keep the possession alive.

“She’s a tough-minded kid,” Fennelly said of Fritz, who scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds. “She likes the moment. She really likes this kind of game where there’s a lot of stuff going on, but not surprised she took it and the ball was delivered perfectly.”

The Cyclones ended a three-game losing streak and pulled into a tie for third place in the conference standings. ISU faces back-to-back tough road tests Saturday at Baylor and next Wednesday at Oklahoma State, so Monday’s win could be critical in terms of securing a high Big 12 finish and possibly first- and second-round NCAA Tournament games at home.

“I think just having a rough couple of games there and being able to come out at Hilton, and have our fans with us, and get a win just put us back on track,” Joens said. “It motivates us to continue going forward.”

Harmon led Texas with 19 points. The Longhorns saw a seven-game win streak snapped despite grabbing 22 offensive rebounds. The Cyclones held them to 30 percent shooting in the first half and 39 percent overall.

“I knew what I was walking into,” Texas coach Vic Shaefer said. “I knew what that buzzsaw was gonna look like. Coach (Fennelly) had his team ready and my team wasn’t. His kids are so competitive. You talk about tough. Those kids are tough, man.”

Case in point: ISU guard Lexi Donarski. She had her lip split after some contact in the first half, but returned and hit two key 3-pointers to end the third quarter and start the fourth.

“I thought I lost a tooth,” said Donarski, who scored 11 points and drilled three 3-pointers. “That’s why I started crying, because I thought I lost a tooth. But I didn’t, so we’re good.”

And back on track. Thanks to solid defense and 8-of-15 3-point shooting. Fritz’s late long-range swish came at a critical moment, but the Cyclones were good both inside and outside the entire game.

“We talked before the game about let’s just fight,” Fennelly said. “If you care about something in your life you fight and I thought we fought hard tonight.”

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