Ashley Joens will return to Iowa State women’s basketball for 5th season

Former City High star has unfinished business with the Cyclones

Rob Gray

Mar. 28, 2022 4:32 pm, Updated: Mar. 29, 2022 9:56 am

Iowa State guard Ashley Joens drives up court during the second half of a second-round game against Georgia in the NCAA women's college basketball tournament, Sunday, March 20, 2022, in Ames, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

AMES — Ashley Joens will likely have a bright future in the WNBA.

But Monday, Iowa State’s all-time leading scorer decided making her mark in the professional ranks can wait.

Joens announced on Twitter she will use the extra season of eligibility afforded to players because of the COVID-19 pandemic to return to a Cyclones program that set records for overall wins (28) and Big 12 wins (14), and reached the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2010.

“This team is special,” Joens typed on Twitter. “We have more to accomplish, and I can’t wait to play another year with all of them! Go Cyclones!”

Twitter

The former Iowa City High standout averaged 20.3 points and 9.5 rebounds this season while shooting a career-best 37.8 percent from 3-point range.

Her return bolsters an already deep and talented ISU team that will almost certainly be ranked in the top 10 in preseason polls — if not the top five.

Star guards Emily Ryan and Lexi Donarski will just be juniors. Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw — who battled injury all season — is slated to return in the backcourt, as is Joens’ sister, Aubrey. Versatile 6-foot-2 guard/forward Nyamer Diew also will be back, along with 6-3 post players Morgan Kane and Beatriz Jordao, among others.

Joens has 2,369 career points — 220 more than previous all-time leader Angie (Welle) Edinger. The 6-1 senior also tops the ISU record books in free throws made (572) and is well-positioned to establish several new benchmarks, as well.

That’s not why she chose to come back, of course. Joens’s return makes the Cyclones an Elite Eight team at minimum, on paper, for next season, and working toward that type of success, or even higher, is what drives her the most.