Iowa State women's basketball

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – As the Iowa State women’s basketball team struggled through the end of the first half of Wednesday night’s NCAA Tournament game, a once-promising season seemed to be on the verge of coming to a close.

Tommy Birch, the Register’s sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He’s the 2018, 2020 and 2023 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468“We kind of had a little out-of-body experience,” Fennelly said.”I’m excited and flattered that we get to come back here and play a great Michigan team on Friday,” Fennelly said.

Crooks hit a pair of big free throws with 1:29 left. Ryan connected with a layup with under a minute play to give Iowa State a six-point lead it never relinquished.

The clutch plays helped cap off a great second half including a nearly flawless third quarter for the Cyclones.That quickly changed.

Things started out fine for Iowa State. It charged out of the gates and used a 9-0 run in the first quarter to build up an 18-9 lead. Princeton hit just one of its final 10 shots in the field and never could get into a rhythm over the first 10 minutes.Fennelly even said Iowa State looked like the team he thought they could be this season at the start of the second half.

But the biggest story of the night was the Cyclones battling back from the halftime deficit to beat Princeton and keep its season alive.Iowa State started chipping away in the third quarter, using an 8-0 run behind 3-pointers by Brown and Arianna Jackson to pull within seven. Iowa State heated up with a 13-0 run and took a 43-42 lead on a jumper by Brown. Cyclones point guard Emily Ryan capped off the run with a layup and free throw.

Now, the Cyclones need more of it as they continue on with their journey in March.Iowa State hit six of its last eight shots in the third. The Cyclones outscored Princeton 27-9 in the frame and went into the fourth up five after a last-second layup by Ryan.”When you put it all together, opponent, where it was, situation, desperation, it was an amazing effort by our team,” Fennelly said.Iowa State stormed back from a double-digit first-half deficit and the 11-seed Cyclones eventually beat 11-seed Princeton, 68-63, in the First Four of the NCAA Tournament at Purcell Pavilion.”In the back of your mind, you’re thinking, is the NCAA going to make us fly home tonight,” Fennelly said.

“I think our effort was better, overall,” Brown said. “I just we kind of came out flat and they took advantage of us there. But in the second half, we kind of turned that around and we came out and hit first.”During halftime, there were talks in the Iowa State locker room about their trip to last season’s NCAA Tournament. The Cyclones trailed by 16 in their first-round game against Maryland came from behind and won.

The Cyclones kept hitting. Crooks scored Iowa State’s first eight points of the fourth quarter to hold off a Princeton team that kept it close for most of the fourth quarter.”I think we started to execute a lot better,” Crooks said. “We took our time with our offensive possessions, especially. We did better defensively.”

“I think that was a helluva way to start the NCAA Tournament,” said Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly.Fennelly spoke to his team about their effort. The Cyclones, who entered the season as a top-10 team in both major polls, could continue playing with the same amount in the first half. Or they could make changes.But then, the Cyclones started looking like the team everyone expected them to be this season.  The Cyclones will play 6-seed Michigan in the first round of the tournament on Friday at 10:30 a.m. CT. Addy Brown scored 22 points, grabbed seven rebounds and handed eight assists for the Cyclones (23-11). Audi Crooks scored a team-high 27 points. The victory was the 800th of Fennelly’s career.The Tigers went on a 9-0 run early in the second quarter and took a 22-20 lead on a jumper by Olivia Hutcherson. Iowa State answered back on a layup by Crooks. But things eventually spiraled out of control for the Cyclones in the quarter.It’s a problem the Cyclones didn’t have to worry about.Princeton hit five of its last six shots of the frame and went on a 14-0 run over the final 3:22. The Cyclones hit just two of their final 11 field goal attempts in the half and went the final 4:08 without a basket to trail, 38-25, at the break.