Twister Sister Forecast: Cyclones look to ice out Wildcats

With the temperatures dropping outside, the Cyclones look to keep the heat from their 25 point win over Cincinnati as they take on the struggling Arizona Wildcats, who are just 1-6 in the conference. Freshly off a 44 point performance, all eyes will be on Jada Williams as she takes on her former team. While Iowa State currently ranks 32 in the NET rankings, Arizona finds themselves down at 130. 

While Arizona finished a respectable eighth place in the conference in their first year, nine year head coach Adia Barnes left the program to take the SMU position. With her exit, all but one player either transferred or graduated, leaving just Montaya Dew to aid Becky Burke in the rebuild. Their season has been rocky to be polite. Losing their exhibition game to Division II West Texas A&M (same level as Upper Iowa University), the Wildcats have earned just one win against P5 opponents. Allowing 12.5 more points than they score during conference play, the Wildcats have been struggling for any kind of spark. 

A team who may have found their spark is Cyclones, stomping the Cincinnati Bearcats 93-68. The story of the game was Jada Williams, who scored the second highest single game total in school history with 44 points, only bested by Audi Crooks earlier this season with 47. The team also shot much better compared to their five game losing streak with 55.7% from the field and 42.3% from three. Overall, it was a very dominant performance, winning every quarter. 

Here are my three storylines to watch:

1. Back in the spotlight, is this the turning point for Jada Williams? Jada Williams probably won’t score 44 points two games in a row, but I would expect her to have the green light to take control of the game. A far cry from when Baylor specifically kept her open, Jada has now shown to have the ability to be the number one option when so many gameplans are focused on shutting down Audi. 
2. Bet the over on Audi Crooks points. Arizona is a small roster, with the four players averaging the most minutes all 5’ 10” or shorter. If they consistently have to stick with Jada, Arriana Jackson, and Kenzie Hare, Audi will have far more opportunities than some of the past couple games to assert her dominance. 
3. Claps for Evangelia Paulk. Wednesday was her biggest game of the year, playing 31 minutes. Due to the injury to Addy Brown, Paulk has seen her minutes increase as she moves towards the second forward position. Providing size and speed on defense, she certainly earned an increased role, even if it may not immediately show up on the stat sheet. 

Prediction: After a dominant win over Cincinnati, I believe that the Cyclones will find themselves in the win column once again, as Arizona drops four in a row and seven out of eight. 85-71 ISU.