Oklahoma Falls at Home to Iowa State

The Sooners' nine-game winning streak comes to an end as the Cyclones hold off a fourth-quarter rally in Norman.

John E. Hoover | Jan 5, 2022

Madi Williams led all scorers with 26 points, but it wasn’t enough against a balanced Iowa State squad.

The Cyclones came to Norman on Wednesday night and outlasted No. 23-ranked Oklahoma 81-71 at Lloyd Noble Center.

The loss ended a nine-game winning streak for OU (12-2 overall, 1-1 in Big 12 Conference play).

No. 12-ranked Iowa State (13-1, 2-0) put four players in double-figures, led by Emily Ryan’s 22 points and Ashley Joens’ 17.

The the Cyclones’ most important player might have been Lexi Donarski, who scored just five points on 1-of-12 shooting but played 39 minutes of lock-down defense on Sooner sharpshooter Taylor Robertson.

Robertson, who came in leading the nation with 60 3-point field goals (second place has 47) and is ranked 11th in 3-point percentage (.480), finished just 3-of-7 from the floor and 2-of-6 from 3-point range.

Robertson was 27th nationally in scoring at 19.5 points per game, but finished with just eight points.

OU came in ranked second on the nation in scoring at 89.7 points per game, but against an active Iowa State defense never threatened to get close to that mark.

The Cyclones led by 15 in the third quarter but OU rallied to within six before Iowa State closed it out.

Kelbie Washington — Big 12 and national freshman of the week last week — scored 11 for the Sooners but also committed five turnovers.

OU’s next game is a 4 p.m. start at Kansas on Saturday.

Published Jan 5, 2022

JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.