AMES — Sunday’s game between No. 3 Iowa State and No. 6 Georgia got off to a lopsided start, seeing the Cyclones up 9-0 with four forced turnovers before their opponents could call timeout.
The team punched its ticket into the Sweet 16 for the first time in 12 years with a 65-30 win, but what happened after that first timeout created an environment in Hilton Coliseum unique to Sunday night.
As Cyclone fans cheered the lead their team had built on Georgia, the video board in the arena began to display the school’s men’s team – which led Wisconsin in the closing minutes of its own second-round game in Milwaukee.
“I know exactly (when I noticed the men’s game being on the scoreboard),” Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly said. “Everyone was cheering. We were ahead 50-42 with 4:05 to go. I looked up and I saw that on the scoreboard and I knew, the way the game was going, we were going to win.”
The game resumed and the teams played on, but with a different surge of energy in the building.
There was a good chance each of the basketball programs would go to the Sweet 16 if they could make their plays – which is the first time since 2000 that both programs reached the mark in the same season.
Iowa State got up to an 11-0 lead before Georgia could make a shot and then led 14-7 at the media timeout for the first quarter.
Cue up the video board again. Jaz Kunc fought for the ball and got a timeout called, with the men leading 50-45 and just 48 seconds remaining on the clock.
“I think it definitely brought some extra energy,” Emily Ryan said. “It got a little buzz going and made it a lot of fun. Everyone was peeking up at the scoreboard to see what the score was.”
A new surge of energy came through the arena.
Boom. Ryan hits a three out of the timeout. Moments later Ashley Joens buried a triple of her own. Georgia controlled the basketball late in the quarter but turned it over and Ryan got a bucket to go with a pair of seconds left on the clock.
Iowa State ended the quarter on a 9-0 run and entered the break with a 23-7 lead.
At the media timeout in the second quarter, the final five seconds of the men’s game played over the video board.
“We weren’t able to really look up too much, but when you hear the crowd go crazy during a timeout, there’s no other option than to think the guys are doing really well,” Ryan said.
The entirety of Hilton Coliseum watched its men’s team punch its ticket to the second weekend, and then they got more.
They got to watch Ryan put in 15 points and nine assists while setting a new school record for dimes in a single season.
They watched Lexi Donarski drop 20 points on the night and Joens collect another double-double.
There wasn’t a fan in the arena that wasn’t making noise when Maddie Frederick, a leader who can motivate her teammates from the bench, hit a shot late in the fourth quarter.
The Cyclones just punched their ticket to the Sweet 16 in one of their most lopsided wins of the year.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever wanted something, professionally, more in my life than to see these guys have the opportunity (to play in the Sweet 16),” Fennelly said.
No. 3 Iowa State will square off with No. 10 Creighton on Friday night in Greensboro, North Carolina. A tipoff time has not yet been announced.
“Sometimes in life, you earn things and you get it,” Fennelly said. “Well, this group earned it and they got it. It’s pretty damn sweet.”
