Iowa State survives upset scare against UT Arlington in NCAA women’s basketball tournament

AMES — Emily Ryan took over. Ashley Joens stayed the course. And No. 3-seed Iowa State fully needed its stars to be at their best for 40 minutes in Friday night’s tense 78-71 first-round NCAA women’s basketball tournament win over 14-seed UT Arlington.

“Luckily (Friday) we made just enough plays,” said Cyclones head coach Bill Fennelly, whose team will face No. 6-seed Georgia in the second round at 7 p.m. Sunday at Hilton Coliseum (ESPN2). “I feel bad for Arlington. They did everything they could to win the game and probably Emily Ryan and Ashley Joens, and the best fan base in the country got us through it.”

Ryan scored 11 of her 20 points in the fourth quarter. Her stepback 3-pointer and driving layup in the span of a minute put the Cyclones (27-6) ahead 66-64 with 4:58 left. They didn’t trail again.

“In adversity, it shows a lot about what kind of team and player you are, so I thought we did a great job,” said Ryan, who dished out all six of ISU’s assists. “Really proud of our effort.”

Joens scored a season-high 36 points and added 15 rebounds to record her 48th career double-double.

The Cyclones’ all-time leading scorer has totaled 30 or more points in her past three NCAA Tournament games.

“Every team’s gonna give you (its) best shot,” Joens said. “You’ve just got to keep battling and our team stuck together, stayed calm and we were able to make some plays down the (stretch).”

ISU guard Lexi Donarski joined Ryan and Joens in playing all 40 minutes. The talented trio combined to score 70 of the Cyclones' 78 points — a trend that’s not sustainable as they face a quick turnaround in preparation for the Bulldogs (21-9).

“It’s a great effort by them and it’s not good,” Fennelly said. “We kind of reverted back to kind of standing around and watching those guys play a little bit. I mean, Ashley had 36 and it’s one of those nights she could have had 50. Missing free throws, and missing a few other shots, but obviously, if we’re gonna have any chance Sunday — and chance — we’d better get something from the other people. They should be rested. So hopefully that’s the case. We’ll try to throw something together. Georgia’s really good. Really good.”

Nyamer Diew provided one bright spot beyond the “big three” for ISU. The 6-2 forward recorded six points, four rebounds and three blocked shots.

“Ny can guard one through five, enough to give us a chance,” Fennelly said. “I thought she was really, really good.”

Mavericks standout Starr Jacobs scored 19 points before fouling out in the closing seconds. That’s when most of the 5,546 fans in attendance — the Cyclones’ devotees — could finally exhale and offer sustained, but relieved cheers.

UT Arlington (20-8), which entered the game ranked 284th nationally in 3-point shooting, drilled seven of its first 10 long-range attempts and led by as many as 12 points. ISU started 0-for-8 from 3-point range and shot just 57.7 percent from the free throw line, but still found a way to move on to the second round for the second straight season — thanks to Ryan, Joens and Donarski.

“I guess the definition of survive and advance for this tournament is what you could see from our team (Friday),” Fennelly said.