WBB: ISU Earns First Win at Texas Tech, 72-68

[Jeremy]

WBB: ISU Earns First Win at Texas Tech, 72-68
Media Relations

LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech made run after run at the Iowa State women’s basketball team, but the Cyclones held on to knock off the Lady Raiders, 72-68, at the United Spirit Arena Thursday night in the Big 12 regular-season finale. The win was the fifth straight for the Cyclones and was the first win in school history at Texas Tech.

With the win, Iowa State tied Nebraska for fourth place in the league standings, but will take the fifth seed to the conference tournament. The Cyclones will now open the Phillips 66 Big 12 Tournament at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday against Kansas State at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City, Okla. Iowa State improved to 22-7 on the season and finished at 10-6 in the Big 12, while Texas Tech dropped to 15-15 overall and 6-10 in the league.

Seniors Megan Ronhovde and Lyndsey Medders led the Cyclones for the third consecutive game. Ronhovde was on fire, going 7-of-11 from the field and posting 18 points to lead ISU. Medders had 16 points, including matching Ronhovde with four treys each. Toccara Ross led the Cyclones on the boards with 12 rebounds to go with nine points. Three other ISU players finished with eight points on the night.

Iowa State shot 42.1 percent on the night and was 11 of-29 from three-point range for the game. The Cyclones were outrebounded 46-37, but won for just the third time this season when losing the battle of the boards. Three Lady Raiders finished in double digits, led by LaVonda Henderson’s 19 points. Alesha Robertson finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds for Texas Tech.

“This was a special moment for us,” ISU head coach Bill Fennelly said. “This is a storied program. It always has been and always will be. It’s been a tough place for us to play and we’ve never won here. For us to come down here and win was special for our program and for our seniors. We have really played well over the last five games. I thought we played well tonight in a tough environment.”

After taking a slim 37-35 lead to the locker room at halftime, Ronhovde came out fired up to start the second half, posting eight points and hitting a pair of treys to open the lead to 45-39 just two and a half minutes in. Ross hit a layup to give the Cyclones a 49-40 advantage, but every time ISU extended its lead, Tech answered with a run of its own, cutting it to one, 49-48. Iowa State once again opened a six-point margin, 54-48, but the Lady Raiders again closed it to two, 54-52.

The Cyclones struggled to push their lead beyond six points, as Texas Tech went on a 7-0 run to tie the game at 66-all with 2:26 remaining. Wieben hit a layup and Ross knocked down a pair of free throws to take a 70-66 lead, but Wieben was called for her fifth foul on the defensive end and Erin Myrick hit a pair to make it a two-point game, 70-68. The Cyclones missed a shot with 22 seconds left, but got the defensive stop. Ross was fouled with 3.5 seconds left and knocked down a pair of free throws to give them the final margin, 72-68.

Iowa State got out to one of its best road starts this season, opening up a 15-6 lead behind 10 points over the first six minutes of the game from Ronhovde. The Cyclones continued to roll, going up by a score of 17-9, before Texas Tech went on an 11-0 run and held ISU scoreless for a five-minute span, to give the Lady Raiders a 20-17 advantage.

Neither team led by more than three the rest of the half, as the two teams continued to trade baskets. Alison Lacey drained a three to give ISU a 34-33 advantage with 1:14 left, before the Cyclones sent TTU’s Robertson to the line, where she hit a pair of free throws to give Tech a 35-34 lead. Heather Ezell hit ISU’s eighth trey of the half with 34 seconds left to give the Cyclones the 37-35 halftime margin. The Lady Raiders were 10-of-13 from the charity stripe over the first 20 minutes, while ISU attempted just one free throw.