Cyclones Fall 68-66 To WVU In Final Seconds

AMES, Iowa –No. 24 Iowa State (18-6 overall, 9-5 Big 12) turned over the ball on its last three possessions and West Virginia (15-10 overall, 7-7 Big 12) countered with a basket by Averee Fields with 12 seconds remaining and then a Brooke Hampton free throw with 3.2 seconds left as the Mountaineers prevailed 68-66 over the Cyclones Sunday in Hilton Coliseum. Iowa State’s Hallie Christofferson equalled a career-high with 27 points and became the 25th player in Cyclone history to reach 1,000 career points. Bria Holmes led West Virginia with 18 points.

Iowa State led 66-62 with 2:38 remaining. West Virginia’s Ayana Dunning, who proved tough to stop with the Cyclone post players on the bench with foul trouble, was called for an offensive foul with 1:40 to go.  But Iowa State guard Nikki Moody slipped coming to a stop for a travel call and following Fields’ basket was called for an offensive foul on the Cyclones’ next opportunity with the ball. A final last chance pass was contested as West Virginia left Ames with a much-needed Big 12 victory. 

Iowa State’s loss ended a four-game win streak in Big 12 play and was only the Cyclones’ second defeat in its last 14 games at home. Moody had 14 points, included a trio of second-half threes that gave Iowa State a narrow lead late. Chelsea Poppens had 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds for the Cyclones. The balance of the Iowa Staters beyond Moody hit on just 2-of-19 three-point attempts.

Iowa State jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first four minutes as West Virginia missed its first six shots from the field. West Virginia came out fouling (ending the game with 26) and Poppens’ free throw with 11:52 in the first half gave the Cyclones a 23-12 lead. The Mountaineers got a pair of threes in the final 1:46 of the initial period to close the gap as Iowa State led 27-22 at halftime. The Cyclones went 11:07 without a first-half field goal as West Virginia committed 11 personal fouls and the Iowa Staters went 9-of-12 at the free-throw line.

Iowa State plays at Kansas State Saturday in a game that will tip off at 2 p.m. CST on Fox College Sports Central.