Cold shooting sinks Iowa State women in home loss to TCU

AMES — Stat sheets don't always tell the full story of how a game unfolds, but in Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly's estimation it was cut and dry.

'You've got to make shots. Our team can't make shots,' Fennelly said. 'When you shoot the way we shot tonight, you're not going to beat anybody. I don't care who it is.'

Iowa State struggled from the field through most of the night in a 72-62 home loss to TCU and has now dropped four straight conference games. The Cyclones (11-8, 3-5) shot 30.8 percent from the field and were an icy 8-for-35 in the second and third quarters while the Horned Frogs (12-8, 4-5) went 15-for-35 during that span.

TCU fell behind 26-21 — its biggest deficit — with less than five minutes to go in the second quarter, but quickly found an offensive rhythm. Iowa State surrendered a 17-2 run spanning the final 4:42 of the first half, was 0-for-7 shooting to end the quarter and allowed 34 points in the paint for the game.

'I just felt like we were able to get consistent stops,' said TCU coach Raegan Pebley. 'We saw a little bit better execution towards the end of the second quarter of our game plan defensively and we really implored upon our ladies to not settle for jump shots so easily.'

The Cyclones cut the Horned Frogs' lead to six late in the fourth quarter, largely due to freshman Bridget Carleton. She had 23 points — 19 in the second half — accompanied by 11 rebounds and two assists. Meredith Burkhall had 12 points and Jadda Buckley had 11.

'I just started looking to be aggressive,' Carleton said. 'Jadda had a lot of pressure on her. She had a good defender who was quick so it was hard to get her the ball in positions where she was able to score.

'I thought I could take my defender to the basket, which I tried to do as much as possible.'

Seanna Johnson had 11 rebounds, completing her 37th career game with double-digit rebounds, but a left knee injury stemming from a fall last Saturday hampered her offensive ability. She had three points and was 1-for-11 in 39 minutes and Fennelly said he believed her to be about 75 or 80 percent of her normal strength.

'She looked a little tentative and there were times where she would normally stick her nose in there defensively or rebound and she shied away from some contact,' Fennelly said. 'She tried to play and obviously didn't play very well, but she tried and you've got to give a kid credit for going out there and competing and doing the best she could.'

l Comments: montzdylan@gmail.com