After a regular season that fell well short of expectations, the Iowa State women's basketball team earned a No. 11 seed in the NCAA Tournament where the Cyclones had to face the No. 6-seed Michigan Wolverines in the Round of 64.
Despite building a lead as halftime rapidly approached, the Cyclones simply couldn't keep pace with the Wolverines and eventually fell to their Big Ten opponent. Michigan moved on to the Round of 32 with an 80-74 victory in its back pocket as Iowa State flew home.
In the first quarter, the ISU offense looked a little sluggish as they struggled from deep and had a difficult time getting the ball into Audi Crooks, the Cyclones' star center. However, the second quarter looked promising for Iowa State as the team built a 37-32 lead by halftime, outscoring Michigan by 11 points in the second period.
Despite allowing Michigan just two more points than the Cyclones scored themselves in the third, Iowa State began to look slow on the defensive end of the court once again as the second half unfolded.
Crooks was the only Cyclone to put up more than 20 points on the day as she contributed 28 points, seven rebounds, and four assists. Arianna Jackson was the only other Iowa State player to score in the double digits with just 12 points.
The Wolverines were able to stifle the Cyclones in the final quarter of regulation, outscoring Iowa State 27-18 to secure the victory.
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As Iowa State flew home, Michigan began preparing for its next matchup where the Wolverines would face the winner of the Notre Dame-Stephen F. Austin matchup.