Iowa St stuns No. 2 Baylor, ending Lady Bears’ Big 12 streak
AMES, Iowa (AP) — Ashley Joens scored 15 points, including the decisive free throw with 0.9 second left, to help Iowa State stun No. 2 Baylor 57-56, ending the Lady Bears‘ 58-game regular-season Big 12 winning streak on Sunday.
The Lady Bears (28-2, 17-1 Big !2) last lost a conference regular season game to Texas on Feb. 6, 2017. Their only other loss this season came to South Carolina in November in a Thanksgiving tournament.
Iowa State (18-11, 10-8) took a 56-53 lead on Joens’ layup with 37 seconds left. Juicy Landrum tied the game 14 seconds later with a 3-pointer.
After timeouts by both teams, Joens was fouled with less than a second left by Didi Richards. Baylor coach Kim Mulkey was incensed with the call. After the officials reviewed that there was still time on the clock, Joens hit the first of the two free throws.
Ines Nezerwa and Rae Johnson each had 11 points for the Cyclones, who had lost 11 straight games to Baylor.
Richards scored 15 points and Lauren Cox added 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Lady Bears.
Cox shadowed Joens most of the game and limited her to 3 for 18 shooting from the field.
Iowa State hit 10 of 24 3-point attempts.
BIG PICTURE
Baylor: Cox had six of the Lady Bears’ 11 blocked shots — giving her 301 in her career. Baylor also saw its 45-game Big 12 road winning streak snapped, which was a conference record. The Lady Bears led by as many as eight points, but Iowa State’s 8-0 run early in the third quarter erased that — and set the stage for the stunning upset.
Iowa State: The Cyclones mixed up their defenses to hold Baylor to its second-lowest field goal percentage in Big 12 play this season (41%). Iowa State notched its first win this season over a ranked team and ensured that it would earn a NCAA Tournament bid.
UP NEXT
Baylor: Plays the winner of the Iowa State-Kansas State game in the Big 12 Tournament on Saturday.
Iowa State: Plays Kansas State in the Big 12 Tournament on Friday.