The Iowa State women’s basketball team quickly dug itself into a giant hole Tuesday night, falling behind a hot-shooting UConn team early in the first quarter.
The Cyclones could never climb out of it.
Fifth-ranked UConn dominated No. 23 Iowa State from start to finish, beating the Cyclones, 101-68, in the Invesco QQQ Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.
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Iowa State, which has lost two of its last three games, fell to 9-4 on the season. Tuesday’s tangle was the final non-conference game of the season for the Cyclones. It showed Iowa State still has plenty of work to do as it gears up for Big 12 Conference play.
For the second time this season, Iowa State was thoroughly dominated by a highly ranked team. The reigning national champs from South Carolina, currently the No. 2 team in the nation, handed Iowa State a 76-36 loss in November.
This loss wasn’t as ugly. But like that contest, the outcome was determined early on. The Huskies built up a gigantic lead in the first quarter and barely let off the pedal the rest of the night.
UConn stormed off to a 21-2 lead in the first quarter thanks to some huge 3-point shooting. The Huskies, who connected on five 3-pointers in that run, shot 10-of-11 from beyond the arc in the opening 10 minutes. UConn’s Ashlynn Shade had 20 points on 6-of-6 shooting from deep to start the night.
The Huskies couldn’t keep up at that pace, but it didn’t matter. Iowa State went on an 11-0 run in the second quarter and cut the lead to 14 on a jumper by Addy Brown, but that was as close as it got for the Cyclones. Bill Fennelly’s team turned it over 14 times and allowed UConn to shoot 59% (20-34) from 3-point range.
Sarah Strong finished with 29 points for UConn which also got 27 each from Shade and Paige Bueckers.
Audi Crooks finished with 22 points and six rebounds for Iowa State. Sydney Harris added 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting off the bench.
The Cyclones open Big 12 play on Saturday at Oklahoma State.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: UConn women’s basketball uses strong start to dominate Iowa State
