KANSAS CITY, Missouri – Iowa State (20-9, 12-7 Big 12) ended victorious with the 74-63 victory over Baylor (19-12, 10-9 Big 12) Friday night in the quarterfinals of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Championship. ISU capped the win on an 11-point scoring run to move on to the semifinals.

The score stood at 63-63 with just over four minutes of play remaining while the Cyclones held Baylor scoreless from there. Ashley Joens was magnificent through the night, ending with 30 points and totaling seven 3-pointers. Emily Ryan put up 15 points and Morgan Kane had 10 to make for three in double figures.

Iowa State recorded 10 3-pointers to total 258 on the season. Iowa State has now hit the mark of 250 in 17 seasons in program history, all 17 coming under head coach Bill Fennelly.

Up Next

The Cyclones move on to the semifinals of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Championship, facing No. 14 Oklahoma tomorrow at 2:30 p.m.

Thursday, March 9

Game 1 – 12 PM CT
No. 8 Murray State def. No. 9 Evansville, 88-46

Game 2 –  2:30 PM CT
No. 5 Missouri State def. No. 12 Bradley, 71-53

Game 3 – 6 PM CT
No. 7 Southern Illinois def. No. 10 Indiana State, 81-79

Game 4 – 8:30 PM CT
No. 6 UIC def. No. 11 Valparaiso, 72-47

Friday, March 10

Game 5 – 12 PM CT
No. 1 Illinois State vs. No. 8 Murray State

Game 6 – 2:30 PM CT
No. 4 Drake vs. No. 5 Missouri State

Game 7 – 6 PM CT
No. 2 Belmont vs. No. 7 Southern Illinois

Game 8 – 8:30 PM CT
No. 3 UNI vs. No. 6 UIC

Saturday, March 11 

Game 9 – 1:30 PM CT
Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner

Game 10 – 4 PM CT
Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner

Sunday, March 12
Championship – 1 PM CT
Game 9 Winner vs. Game 10 Winner

IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa junior guard Caitlin Clark was named The Athletic National Player of the Year on Friday morning.

This season, Clark is the only player in the nation with more than 860 points, 235 rebounds, 265 assists, and 45 steals. She has registered +25 points, +5 rebounds, and +5 assists in 16 games this year and 38 times in her career which is the most in NCAA women’s basketball history.

Against teams that are top 26 in the NET Rankings, Clark picks it up a notch averaging 29.6 ppg, 8.4 apg, and 7.1 rpg. Iowa leads the nation in AP Top 10 victories with five.

Most recently, she became the first player in Big Ten Tournament Championship history to record a triple-double. Clark finished with 30 points, 10 rebounds, and 17 assists, the latter figure is also a title-game record and second-most in any BTT game. Clark was subsequently voted the tournament’s Jim and Kitty Delany Most Outstanding Player by the media, becoming the third two-time recipient of the award.

Clark is leading the nation’s best offense with 27.0 ppg, 7.5 rpg, and 8.3 apg. She also paces the country with four triple-doubles this season. Clark accounts for 52% of Iowa’s offensive output in points and assists.

The West Des Moines, Iowa, native also was recognized as Big Ten Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. She was also a unanimous All-Big Ten First Teamer.

Class 1A Championship

1:00—#1 Grand View Christian vs. #2 North Linn

Class 2A Championship

3:00—#1 Central Lyon vs #3 Western Christian, Hull

Class 3A Championship

5:00—#1 Bondurant-Farrar vs #2 Xavier, Cedar Rapids

Class 4A Championship

7:00—#3 Waukee Northwest vs #4 Valley, W.D.M.

The Iowa State women open the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City Friday night with a quarterfinal round game against Baylor. The Cyclones are the three seed in the field.

That’s ISU coach Bill Fennelly. The Cyclones and Bears split two regular season games and the road team won both.

Fennelly says there is plenty to play for even if the Cyclones don’t get to host the first two rounds of the tournament.

One and done for Iowa in Chicago. Ohio State made the plays down the stretch and beat the Hawkeyes 73-69 at the Big Ten Tournament. It was another in a series of losses to teams near the bottom of the conference.

That’s Iowa coach Fran McCaffery. The Buckeyes controlled the tempo and Iowa made only four of 17 shots from three point range.

There were 18 lead changes and the Hawkeyes fall to 19-13.

Filip Rebraca led the Hawkeyes with 20 points. Iowa was hoping for another lengthy run and instead will get added time off before the NCAA Tournament.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic School District’s Board of Directors has approved sports sharing agreement with the Exira-EHK and CAM High Schools for Boys soccer. The district already has sharing agreements with the same two schools for girls soccer.

Atlantic Athletic Director Andy Mitchell recommended the Board approve the arrangements. He spoke during the Board meeting Wednesday night.

He said Exira-EHK approached him about the possibility of sharing, about a month ago.

Mitchell said about two months ago, CAM said they have four young men interested in playing. Mitchell said the IHSAA changed soccer from a 3-class to 4-class system for this season. Atlantic was already going to be a 2A school but with the additions of Exira-EHK and CAM that would bump them into Class 3A due to enrollment numbers. He said that will only impact the postseason and everyone agreed it was best to approve so the team has enough numbers.

Atlantic is scheduled to open the boys soccer season March 28th at home against Riverside.

AMES, Iowa – Iowa State’s Ashley Joens added to her lengthy list of accolades on Thursday as she was named a semifinalist for the 2023 Jersey Mike’s Naismith Women’s College Player of the Year, given to the nation’s top player.

The 2022-23 Big 12 Player of the Year, Joens is a frequenter of the national awards circuit, as within the past week she has also been named to the Wooden Award National Ballot (given to the country’s top player) and is a finalist for the Cheryl Miller Award (the nation’s top small forward), a trophy she has claimed the past two seasons.

Joens leads the Big 12 and ranks 13th nationally with her 21.0 points per game. She has been in double figures in 27 of the Cyclones’ 28 games, scoring at least 20 on 16 occasions while posting 13 double-doubles. Her play has been particularly strong in the final weeks of the season, as she has been over 20 in each of the Cyclones’ past six games with four double-doubles in that run.

Joens and the Cyclones begin the Phillips 66 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Championship on Friday against Baylor at 7:30 p.m. on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa junior forward Kris Murray was named a Karl Malone Award finalist, the announcement was made Thursday by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Fans can support Murray by participating in Karl Malone Fan Voting starting Friday at hoophallawards.com. The Fan Vote will count as one committee vote during the finalist selection process. 

Murray is joined as a finalist for the Karl Malone Award along with Arizona’s Ąžuolas Tubelis, Gonzaga’s Drew Timme, Indiana’s Trace Jackson-Davis and Providence’s Bryce Hopkins.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa junior guard Caitlin Clark was named to the 2023 Naismith Women’s Player of the Year Semifinalist on Thursday. Clark was a finalist for the award in 2022.

This season, Clark is the only player in the nation with more than 860 points, 235 rebounds, 265 assists, and 45 steals. She has registered +25 points, +5 rebounds, and +5 assists in 16 games this year and 38 times in her career which is the most in NCAA women’s basketball history.

Against teams that are top 26 in the NET Rankings, Clark picks it up a notch averaging 29.6 ppg, 8.4 apg, and 7.1 rpg. Iowa leads the nation in AP Top 10 victories with five.

Most recently, she became the first player in Big Ten Tournament Championship history to record a triple-double. Clark finished with 30 points, 10 rebounds, and 17 assists, the latter figure is also a title-game record and second-most in any BTT game. Clark was subsequently voted the tournament’s Jim and Kitty Delany Most Outstanding Player by the media, becoming the third two-time recipient of the award. 

Clark is leading the nation’s best offense with 27.0 ppg, 7.5 rpg, and 8.3 apg. She also paces the country with four triple-doubles this season. Clark accounts for 52% of Iowa’s offensive output in points and assists.

The West Des Moines, Iowa, native also was recognized as Big Ten Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. She was also a unanimous All-Big Ten First Teamer. 

The award’s four finalists will be announced on Tuesday, March 21. The Fan Vote to help narrow the list down to the final honoree will open Tuesday, March 21, and close Tuesday, March 28. The fan vote will account for five percent of the overall final vote. The 2023 Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy Women’s Player of the Year will be awarded on Wednesday, March 29 during the Women’s Final Four.