Ashley Joens scores 26 points to lead No. 18 Iowa State past Kansas

AMES — It’s not often that Ashley Joens is stuck in a shooting slump.

It’s rarer still that those struggles crop up in bunches for Iowa State’s all-time leading scorer.

So consider Saturday’s game against Kansas a get-well game for Joens, who scored 26 points and grabbed a team-high 15 rebounds as the No. 18 Cyclones secured a 64-50 win over the Jayhawks before 10,677 fans at Hilton Coliseum.

“Every game is gonna be tough so you just have to come out ready to go and you never know who’s gonna be hot one night,” Joens said. “Tonight, I was hitting them. Wednesday (in a win at Oklahoma State) I wasn’t, but someone always steps up.”

Joens had shot 33 percent or worse from the field in three of the past four games, but went 10-for-19 overall and 5-for-11 from 3-point range against the Jayhawks. The former Iowa City High star added a team-high four offensive rebounds and three assists as ISU improved to 13-4 overall and 5-2 in Big 12 play.

“We have had some really good games, maybe the last two or three, where we had really good balance,” ISU head coach Bill Fennelly said. “There was no balance tonight. It was balanced defense and throw the ball to Joens.

The Cyclones also won their 16th straight game in the series and led by as many as 22 points against the Jayhawks (13-5, 3-4). Backup post player Izzi Zingaro added a career-high 11 points and six rebounds. The Bolton, Ontario, Canada, native also had family at the game.

“My parents and my cousin are here, so it’s definitely a great feeling to have family here, but family’s always here because Hilton magic is so great,” Zingaro said.

Kansas stayed in the game behind the strong interior play of 6-6 senior Taiyanna Jackson, who scored nine points before the break, but Joens was hot almost from start to finish, finishing with 15 first-half points as the Cyclones established a 31-21 lead.

ISU closed the half on a 7-0 run and drilled 7 of its 20 3-point shots before the break. Joens made 3-for-7 from behind the arc in the first 20 minutes and Lexi Donarski — who scored all of her nine points before the break — sank 3 of 5 3-point tries.

Kansas shot just 34 percent and ended up 2-for-16 from the 3-point line. Jackson scored 13 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead the Jayhawks.

Joens notched her 57th career double-double and hoarded 10 or more rebounds for the 56th time in her career.

“Ashley Joens was Ashley Joens,” Fennelly said. “And we could not have defended any better than we did tonight.”

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