No. 11 Iowa State women seek to get back on track Sunday against West Virginia

AMES — Layups caromed off the rim. Open 3-point shots missed their mark — sometimes wildly. In short, nothing went right for the No. 11 Iowa State women in Wednesday’s disappointing 71-63 loss at struggling Cincinnati, and there’s nowhere for the Cyclones (14-2, 2-2) to go but up.

“We were bad, and I take responsibility for that,” said ISU head coach Bill Fennelly, whose team seeks to end a two-game skid at 2 p.m. Sunday against dangerous West Virginia (13-2, 3-1) at Hilton Coliseum. “Nothing against Cincinnati, but we couldn’t make a layup, we couldn’t make a free throw, we couldn’t make an open 3. I mean, we turned the ball over two times and the second half and we couldn’t score. It was just one of those games.”

So what to do after a rare quad 4 loss for the Cyclones?

Flush it. Regroup. Consider it a blip rather than a potential trend.

“Obviously that’s not what you want to have happened at all, but we learn from it, we move on, we grow, we get better,” said senior Kenzie Hare, who’s shooting 47 percent from 3-point range this season, but went 1-for-7 from long distance against the Bearcats. “We’re back to work, we learn from it, we flush it, and now let’s go win some games.”

The Mountaineers are a tough team to face when the urgent goal is to get back on track, but that’s how the schedule hits. West Virginia ranks 12th nationally in turnovers fired per game at 24.1 — and ISU could be down two of its top playmakers. Senior guard Arianna Jackson will be “out for a while” after sustaining a knee injury on Wednesday, and star junior guard/forward Addy Brown is questionable because of a back issue.

“Just try to survive it and get it up the court,” Fennelly said of dealing with the Mountaineers’ trademark press. “It’s a unique style in our league."

Fennelly said Jackson’s indefinite absence means freshman backup point guard Reese Beaty’s minutes will likely increase.

“We don’t have anyone close to Addy Brown (and) we don’t have anyone close to ‘AJ’ (Jackson) in what she does,” Fennelly said. “So it’s, like, do what you do, don’t freak out about it. Don’t try to be ‘AJ.’ Be the best Reese you can be — and the other (players) have got to help her.

Fennelly said other reserves such as Reagan Wilson could see an uptick in court time, as well. He and his staff will also have to carefully manage Beaty’s minutes, as she recently returned to action after missing five games because of a foot injury.

“Feels great (to be back),” Beaty said.

Especially when shots start falling again. The Cyclones still rank seventh nationally in field goal percentage at 50.5 percent — and a solid 26th in 3-point percentage at 36.3 percent.

“We’re ready to get back going,” Hare said. “I don’t think we’ve really fallen off.”

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