MORGANTOWN, West Virginia – Iowa State (12-7, 6-3 Big 12) fell to No. 24 West Virginia (17-2, 6-2) on the road Saturday afternoon, 84-78. The physical contest was played tight all the way to the final buzzer, featuring nine lead changes and nine ties.

It was a tight matchup throughout, with just nine points being the largest lead of the game. Iowa State held a five points lead midway through the third quarter, but the Mountaineers rallied to close the quarter on a 12-5 run. Audi Crooks had a career night, tallying 25 points for her eighth 20-point game and a career-high 16 rebounds for her fourth double-double.

Jalynn Bristow earned her first start, finishing with 12 points and five rebounds while shooting 50 percent from the floor. Nyamer Diew had a perfect shooting day, going 2-of-2 from the floor and making all four attempts from the line for nine points.

How It Happened

Bristow scored the first points of the game with a putback off a 3-point miss, but WVU answered with four points to take its first lead. An Emily Ryan 3-pointer and Crooks’ first basket of the afternoon put the Cyclones ahead, 7-4, within the first three minutes of play. After trading baskets again, ISU scored back-to-back layups from Isnelle Natabou and Kelsey Joens to hold a 14-9 lead with 4:06 left in the opening frame. But the Mountaineers countered with a 7-0 run of their own, including a last second 3-pointer to hold a 16-14 advantage heading into the second quarter.

Crooks had the hot hand in the second frame, scoring each of Iowa State’s first three baskets to start the period. With two Ryan free throws and an Arianna Jackson 3-pointer, the Cyclones tied the game at 25-25 with 5:39 left in the half. With an Addy Brown 3-pointer and a Bristow layup, ISU took the 30-28 lead. Belanger and Bristow each hit buckets from deep on back-to-back possessions to hold the 33-30 lead with two minutes to play. Trading free throws and 3-pointers for the remainder of the half, Iowa State held a 40-38 lead going into the break.

The Cyclones held a slight advantage for the majority of the third quarter before West Virginia used a 10-0 run late in the period to lead 63-58 with 10 minutes to play. Crooks scored six points from the line while Kelsey Joens knocked down a 3-pointer as part of a 6-0 ISU run midway through the period.

West Virginia extended its lead to as many as nine points in the fourth quarter, but Iowa State rallied behind another Brown 3-pointer layup along with a Belanger score to cut the deficit to two points. Diew made four free throw attempts, broken up by a WVU triple, to keep it a one possession game with just under two minutes to play. But the Mountaineers closed the game on a 5-2 run to keep Iowa State from completing the sweep.

Up Next

Iowa State returns home for the first time in over two weeks to take on Oklahoma State on Wednesday night. Tipoff in Hilton Coliseum is set for 6:30 p.m.