‘How do you guard them?’: Iowa State has a dominant offensive showing over Columbia

Iowa State wasted no time taking down Columbia in a dominant displaying Sunday morning. A high-powered offensive effort was led by the Cyclones’ near-unstoppable backcourt.

The offense adopted up its 88-point effort in opposition to Northern Iowa by placing up 99 factors in opposition to the Lions. With the win, Iowa State strikes to 4-0 this season headed into the Phil Knight Invitational. 

As upcoming competitors begins to stiffen, Iowa State will want the backcourt to have performances like this. 

“I feel when individuals scout us, they’re going to look and say, ‘alright, how do you guard them?’” head coach Invoice Fennelly stated. 

The Cyclones had been scorching from the opening tipoff, with senior Ashley Joens scoring 14 factors within the first quarter.  The guards had been nailing step-back threes and attacking the basket, leaping out to an early double-digit lead. 

After Iowa State surged forward, it by no means took its foot off the fuel. Joens completed her day with 33 factors, going seven for 10 from the three-point line. Junior Emily Ryan additionally reached double figures, incomes 13 factors of her personal. 

The Cyclones’ 12 threes helped create separation in opposition to Columbia. After a brief interval of inconsistent taking pictures within the first couple of video games this season, Iowa State has stepped into its stride. 

“When you knock down a pair pictures, you get your confidence and also you begin to see the ball going into the ring a little bit extra,” Joens stated. 

When the guards weren’t scoring themselves, they had been discovering methods to unfold the ground. Ryan directed the courtroom with 9 assists, utilizing nifty strikes and fast passes to seek out an open participant.

The backcourt additionally dished the ball down low, serving to safe factors underneath the basket and opening up scoring alternatives when the protection crashed. 

“We’ve kinda figured that in the event that they’re trying in, the ball will probably be open on the three-point line. And in the event that they’re not serving to, that post-up is gonna be open,” stated senior Stephanie Soares, who adopted up Joens in factors with 15. 

“[The backcourt] did a extremely good job of trying inside, and if it’s not there, it’s a pleasant (cross), three-pointer vast open,” Soares stated. 

The win exemplified a second straight high-powered offensive efficiency for the Cyclones. 

Regardless of its means to attain, Iowa State was pushed to the brink in opposition to Northern Iowa, however Columbia struggled to place up a problem. 23-point blowout wins will probably be few and much between for the Cyclones because the season progresses. 

Iowa State is slated to tackle Michigan State for the primary sport of the Phil Knight Invitational, offering the Cyclones with its hardest problem thus far. 

But when Iowa State’s offense can click on, it might tackle anyone. 

“You wish to make a commerce, Emily Ryan and Lexi Donarski are off the desk,” Fennelly stated. “They’re aggressive, they lead, their teammates belief them, their coaches belief them. That’s going to be an enormous driver in the place this staff goes.” 

The wins will get harder, and competitors will get stiffer; Iowa State will want its backcourt to have these sorts of video games.