Texas Women Face Biggest Big 12 Test Yet in Iowa State

No. 15 Longhorns seek to end No. 7 Cyclones' undefeated run in Big 12 action when they head to Ames, Iowa, on Wednesday

The No. 15 Texas Longhorns face an inflection point Wednesday night against the No. 7 Iowa State Cyclones.

A win ends the Cyclones’ (16-1, 5-0 in Big 12) undefeated run through conference play to this point. It also draws the Longhorns (12-3, 2-2) within a game of the Cyclones.

A loss puts the Longhorns three games back in the Big 12 women’s basketball race. Not insurmountable, but certainly not optimal.

Wednesday’s game starts at 6:30 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN+.

Texas hasn’t won a regular-season Big 12 crown since 2004 when it shared the title with Kansas State. Texas swept the regular-season title and tournament title in 2003. For Iowa State, the drought has been longer. Iowa State last won the Big 12 Tournament title in 2001, and in 2000 the Cyclones shared the Big 12 regular-season title and won the Big 12 Tournament title.

For both programs, which have watched Baylor dominate the league for a decade, the door is wide open for both to take the mantle.

But is Texas ready right now? The Longhorns have won three of their last five games. But their two losses are hard to take for a team this deep and talented — home losses to unranked Texas Tech and Kansas. Sandwiched around those losses are wins against Oklahoma State, UT-Rio Grande Valley and West Virginia. The one ‘test’ the Longhorns were set to take, against No. 15 Baylor, was deferred to February after Baylor’s COVID-19 issues to start Big 12 play.

So this game represents Texas’ first game against a ranked team since beating then-No. 17 Texas A&M, 76-60, on Dec. 5. This season, the Longhorns are 2-1 against ranked teams.

Reigning Big 12 Freshman of the Week Rori Harmon leads the Longhorns into the contest averaging 10.9 points, five rebounds. 4.5 assists and 2.3 steals.

Aliyah Matharu leads Texas with 15.2 points, while Joanne Allen-Taylor averages 11.4 points and DeYona Gaston averages 10 points. Lauren Ebo averages 6.5 rebounds to lead Texas.

The Longhorns are hopeful that Aaliyah Moore, their talented forward, will continue to get more minutes. She’s just three games back from injury and against West Virginia on Saturday she scored seven points in six minutes.

Iowa State is the best team the Longhorns have faced since that Texas A&M game. The Cyclones haven’t been No. 7 in the nation since 2002. Their only loss was in December to LSU, which at the time was unranked, but is now in the AP Top 25.

Iowa State is the league’s second-highest scoring team averaging 81.2 points and slowing down the Cyclones starts with slowing down forward Ashley Joens. She is third in the Big 12 in scoring and rebounding with 20.3 points and 9.5 rebounds. She is about a half-dozen games away from becoming Iowa State’s all-time leading scorer.

But Joens isn’t alone. Lexi Donarski averages 15.6 points and is one of the Big 12’s top 3-point shooters. Emily Ryan averages 10.8 points and averages seven assists. Ashley Joens’ younger sister, Aubrey, is a 3-point sharpshooter and averages 9.5 points. Morgan Kane and Beatriz Jordão lead the Cyclones inside with a combined average of 16.1 points and 10.5 rebounds.

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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.

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