From UNI Athletics
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – UNI women’s basketball held All-American Ashley Joens to just six points, her lowest point total in over a season, but couldn’t muster enough offense and fell 67-61 to Iowa State Tuesday evening at the McLeod Center.
Joens picked up two early fouls and sat much of the first half, but was just 2-10 from the field and made just one trip to the foul line where she was 2-2.
Iowa State started the scoring, but UNI went on a 12-2 run to build a 14-4 lead with 4:11 left in the first quarter. Iowa State cut the lead to 12-9 at the break, but UNI held the Cyclones to 15.4% (2-13) shooting in the first frame.
Iowa State controlled the second quarter early, building a 10-point 26-16 lead, the largest of the game before UNI battled back to tie the game at 29. The Cyclones led 31-29 at the break. Cynthia Wolf was 3-4 from the field in the first half and grabbed five rebounds.
The Cyclones built a nine-point lead in the third quarter, but Karli Rucker hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to cut the lead to 53-50 entering the fourth.
The Panthers kept it close but were never able to close the gap and Iowa State earned the 6-point win.
UNI falls to 3-3 on the year while Iowa State improves to 4-3.
Rucker and wolf led the Panthers with 12 points each. Bree Gunnels added 11 points.
Rucker moved into the 16th spot on the All-Time Scoring list and passed the 1,100-point mark. She now has 1,106 points for her career and trails Kerry Dawson by 27 points for the 15th spot on the all-time scoring list with 1,133 points as a Panther.
Freshman Emerson Green recorded a team-high nine rebounds.
UNI outrebounded Iowa State 40-39 and tallied 11 assists to just six for ISU.
Iowa State’s freshman, Lexi Donarski led the Cyclones with 19 points. Donarski went 9-9 (100%) from the free-throw line and ended with five rebounds and two assists.
UNI next travels to Brookings, S. D., next Wednesday to face the South Dakota State Jackrabbits for the second time in three games. SDSU plays games against Missouri State on Saturday and Montana State on Monday.
NOTES
– Ashley Joens failed to score in double figures for the first time since the 2018-19 season. She last scored fewer than six points on Feb. 23, 2019 against Baylor when she tallied four points.
– The loss is the first against Iowa State since falling 76-68 on Nov. 15, 2016.
– Karli Rucker passed Jessie Biggs for the No. 16 spot all-time. She now has 1,106 points for her career and trails Kerry Dawson by 27 points for the 15th spot on the all-time scoring list with 1,133 points as a Panther.
– Megan Maahs is just three rebounds away from the No. 4 spot all-time, but did not record a rebound Tuesday.
