Williams’ 44 paces Cyclones

Jada Williams scored a career high 44 points, got her groove back and Iowa State (15-5, 3-5 Big 12) snapped their five game losing skid with a dominant 93-68 victory over Cincinnati (7-13, 2-6 Big 12) Wednesday night at Hilton Coliseum. The junior from Kansas City, Mo., shot 68.2 percent from the field including six 3-point baskets. She led the team with eight assists.

From the field, the Cyclones shot 55.7 percent (34-of-61) and 42.3 percent (11-of-26) from beyond the arc. In the free throw category, Iowa State missed their first seven attempts and finished with 14 made on 28 attempts. The Cyclones had 10 more assists (21-11) and 10 fewer turnovers (10-20) than the Bearcats.

Audi scored 24 points, and Arianna Jackson scored 11. Jackson had the most rebounds, with eight. Evangelia Paulk played 32 minutes and pulled down a team high five offensive rebounds.

Iowa State opened the game with a layup by Audi Crooks, assisted by Arianna Jackson who returned to the lineup since the matchup at Cincinnati on Jan. 7.

“It’s really hard to sit on the bench and watch,” Jackson said. “So just being out there means everything.”

The Bearcats kept it close for the first three minutes (6-6) before the Cyclones closed the quarter on an 15-6 run. Joya Crawford opened the second quarter with a jumper, but Iowa State went on a 8-1 run over the next four minutes. Cincinnati pulled within 13 points at halftime, 41-28. The visitors from Ohio connected on seven straight points over two minutes – pulling within eight with 7:18 in the third. A seven point Cyclone lead (48-41) with 4:09 remaining in the third quarter was as close as Cincinnati got for the remainder of the game.

Crawford received a technical foul with 67 seconds left in the stanza, by then, the Cyclones led 69-41.

By the end of 30 minutes of game played, Iowa State had 68, the Bearcats had 49 and Jada had 37.

A 6-0 run to start the fourth quarter kept Iowa State up at least 20 for the rest of the game. Paulk’s layup had most of the 9,038 in attendance watching with equal anticipation to see the shot fall and draw a foul. Reagan Wilson and Alisa Williams finalized the scoring for the Cyclones over the final 2:30, with Wilson connecting on a 3-point basket and Williams connecting on a pair inside the paint.

Iowa State hosts against Arizona on Saturday at 3 p.m.