KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It felt like a little bit of deja vu on Thursday night, as it was another high-scoring affair between Iowa State and Arizona State. The Cyclones took down the Sun Devils 96-88 in the second round of the Big 12 Championship. 

The Cyclones advance to the quarterfinals of the tournament where they will take on the No. 2-seeded Baylor Bears. Unfortunately for the Sun Devils, their road ends here, and they end the season with a 10-22 record.

In the first half, Iowa State shot the ball incredibly well. Shooting just under 55% from the field and 46% from deep, the Cyclones took an 11-point lead at the break. The leaders at that point were sophomore forward Addy Brown with 24 points and fifth-year senior guard Emily Ryan with eight assists. 

The Cyclones started the second half hot offensively once again. In this half, though, the Sun Devils matched the Iowa State offense quite well. In fact, Arizona State outscored the Cyclones by three in the second half. Luckily for Iowa State, Brown continued to score the ball well and it was knocking down free throws at a high rate, closing the game out with an eight-point win.

Strong starts to each half

To begin the game, Iowa State dominated the first quarter offensively. Despite missing the first two shots of the quarter, Brown and junior guard/forward Sydney Harris each netted three triples in the quarter. 

“[Harris] brought the spark for us early on, I think we were kind of feeding off each other,” Brown said. “We were able to find her in some good places where you know she’s gonna knock those shots down.”

“Feels good, just, you know, it’s not an individual thing,” Harris said. “Just glad we were able to get the win, just keep it going tomorrow.”

Iowa State ended the first half with an 11-point lead, but the entire lead was built in the first quarter. The Cyclones led 28-17 at the end of the first and were able to retain that lead the rest of the half.

The second half started similarly offensively, scoring 28 points in the period as well. Arizona State nearly matched the Cyclones with 25 points, but the lead grew to 14.

The difference with the third quarter compared to the first, though, was the variety of players that put the ball through the basket. Sophomore guard Kelsey Joens scored five of her seven points in the quarter and sophomore center Audi Crooks scored six of her overall 20.

Limiting mistakes and turnovers

Iowa State has struggled at times throughout the season with taking care of the ball, along with some unnecessary offensive fouls. The Cyclones turned it over just eight times against the Sun Devils, tied for the third lowest this season.

Ryan, the primary ball handler, only turned it over one time all night, and her nine assists gave her an impressive assist-to-turnover rate.

“Everyone talks about finishing. But for us, it was just taking care of the ball,” head coach Bill Fennelly said. “No live ball turnovers. You have to keep scoring. Sometimes you’ve got to guard.”

Handling the ball will be a key component of the game on Friday against Baylor, who the Cyclones turned it over 21 times against earlier this season. 

Drawing fouls and hitting free throws

The first time these two teams met this season, the Sun Devils committed 26 fouls, a number that seemed like quite an outlier at the time. On Thursday, Arizona State one-upped itself, fouling the Cyclones 30 times and allowing 40 free throw attempts. 

As a team, the Cyclones shot slightly below 73% on the season but outperformed themselves with an 82.5% clip on Thursday. The 40 attempts at the line was a season-high, and the 82.5% was the highest in any game where the Cyclones shot more than 20 free throws.

“We wanted to get to the free throw line. We wanted to attack them and make them defend,” Fennelly said. “Our kids did a great job of it, and we converted at the free throw line. It was a big part of the game today, and I thought our kids were really good about it.”

Brown and Crooks were big contributors to the free throw success, as they each knocked down 10 shots, combining for 20-for-24. Ryan was perfect from the line as she shot 8-for-8.

“We really try to attack off the bounce. They’re very, very aggressive,” Fennelly said. “But you know, when you have Addy [Brown], you have Audi [Crooks], that get great contact. Our guards are really good against pressure defenses.”

The Cyclones are back in action at 5:30 p.m. Friday as they take on the No. 2 team in the Big 12 and No. 17 team in the nation, the Baylor Bears.