Arianna Jackson's recent return bolsters the ISU women's hopes at No. 21 Texas Tech

AMES — Arianna Jackson smiled as she recalled the searing pain.

That’s because Iowa State’s sharpshooting junior guard knows how fortunate she.

But when Jackson went down with a knee injury 20 days ago in a loss at Cincinnati, her teammates and coaches feared for the worst.

A torn ACL? A season-ender? A long recovery ahead?

None of the above.

“It was a little terrifying, just because I’ve never had a knee injury,” said Jackson, who returned to the court after only a two-week absence and hopes to help lead the Cyclones (16-5, 4-5) to an upset win Wednesday at 6 p.m. at No. 21 Texas Tech (20-2, 7-2). “When someone tells me a timeline, I always want to be on my own timeline just as an athlete.”

The mere fact that a timeline existed for Jackson to return to the court became a lifeline for the ISU women, who were in the early stages of their first five-game losing streak in a decade. Head coach Bill Fennelly initially thought she could be back in a month. Jackson cut that early estimate in half — and the Cyclones are 2-0 since her return.

“(Her shooting) was something we really missed,” Fennelly said of Jackson, who’s draining a career-best and team-best 46.2 percent of her 3-point attempts this season. “There (are) a lot of statistics you can look at, a lot of things you can look at, but in the games we lose, we couldn’t shoot it. At all. And the numbers — I always tell them video doesn’t lie and the stats don’t lie. It’s a big part of our team and it’s a huge part of her game, but it impacts everyone else on the court, as well.”

Jackson ability to knock down long-range baskets helps ISU space the floor — even as they remain without their most versatile player, Addy Brown, indefinitely because of a lower body injury. Her 3-point shooting prowess gives dynamic point guard Jada Williams more room to roam, and she’s responded with arguably the best two games of her career. Williams scored a career-high-busting 44 points in the 25-point payback win over the Bearcats that coincided with Jackson’s return, then scored 19 points on 8-for-11 shooting in ISU’s romp past her former team, Arizona.

“She puts in the work and I think she’s playing with a high level of confidence right now,” Fennelly said of Williams. “Hopefully, that continues.”

The Cyclones will need top performances from all their players, including leading scorer Audi Crooks, if they hope to beat the Red Raiders. Two former Cyclones — Jalynn Bristow and Denae Fritz — are key contributors for Texas Tech. Bristow leads the team in rebounds (6.9 per game) and blocked shots (2.2). Fritz leads the team in steals per game at 2.4.

“It’ll be a good test for us,” ISU guard Kenzie Hare said. “I think we have to come out strong and kind of hit them first.”

And part of that strategy hinges on getting Jackson open looks early and often. She’s coming off a season-high 15-point performance against the Wildcats after grabbing eight rebounds in the win over Cincinnati. So she’s smiling for a lot of reasons as that painful and scary-looking injury recedes into the past.

“Once we knew it wasn’t something super serious, it was kind of like, OK, just trusting in the rehab and trusting in the process, and then getting back out there as soon as possible,” Jackson said.

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