AMES — The Iowa State women’s basketball team has hit at least one 3-pointer in 623 straight games.
That latest shots from long range came Tuesday night when the Cyclones buried 11 3-pointers in route to an easy 71-54 victory over UC-Riverside in the championship game of the Cyclone Challenge in front of 6,810 fans at Hilton Coliseum.
The Cyclones head into Big 12 play with a 9-2 record. Iowa State is now 34-0 in Cyclone Challenge games under coach Bill Fennelly but because the Big 12 Conference wants to start league games in December, the long-time event that started in 1993 as the Cyclone Classic likely gets put on hiatus for awhile.
If the event never returns, the Cyclones did their best to make the final game memorable.
Nikki Moody led the way with 19 points, six rebounds and five assists, while Seanna Johnson collected her fourth double-double of the season with 18 points and 13 rebounds. No other Cyclone was in double-figures, but ISU turned it over just nine times and out-rebounded the Highlanders (8-5) 46-34.
Iowa State was 11-for-30 from long range in the win. The Cyclones led 36-24 at halftime and led by as many as 18 in the second half.
The Cyclones reached the championship game of the Cyclone Challenge following an 90-44 win over one-win Howard on Monday night.
It was a fairly tight game for most of the first half, but Iowa State pulled away with a 34-0 run over a 13-minute stretch that spanned both halves.
Bryanna Fernstrom had 18 points to the Cyclones in that one. Johnson chipped in another double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Nicole Blaskowsky buried four 3-pointers and scored 14 points.
Iowa State made 15-of-33 from deep in the win but also had a 28-12 advantage in the paint, a 30-11 surplus in bench points and a 20-point cushion in second-chance points.
Sophomore Jadda Buckley missed both games due to injury. She dressed out for Tuesday’s game but did not play. Fennelly said after the game he expects her to play in the Cyclones’ next game against Kansas State at Hilton Coliseum at 1 p.m. Saturday.