Iowa State women’s basketball: Cyclones fall in NCAA tournament with 55-44 loss to Florida State Seminoles

The Iowa State women couldn’t bring the momentum they had late in the regular season to the postseason, losing in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament and the first round of the NCAA tournament to Florida State with an ugly 55-44 loss.

Mar 8, 2014; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Iowa State Cyclones forward Hallie Christofferson (5) attempts a shot against Oklahoma State Cowgirls center LaShawn Jones (55) during the first half in the quarter finals at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Hallie Christofferson ends her career with the Cyclones (20-11), finishing the game with a team-high 13 points on 4-for-10 shooting from the field. Like many other players, she struggled from 3-point range, missing all four attempts.

In total, Iowa State went 7-of-38 from 3-point range (18.4 percent). They couldn’t figure out Florida State’s defense, and ended up settling for way too many shots outside. Not nearly enough were able to fall in.

The Seminoles (21-11) shot a much more efficient 21-of-46 from the field, led by Natasha Howard who finished with a double-double (10 points, 13 rebounds). Five players scored 8 or more points.

It was a very ugly game that was filled with turnovers. Howard had eight turnovers for Florida State, who turned it over 25 total times as a team. Iowa State turned it over 17 times. Nikki Moody contributed seven of those. She also made just one field goal all day from 3-point range while missing 10 other shots. She did have five assists to help balance out all the turnovers.

Despite a disastrous 1st half that only saw the Cyclones score 18 points, they were able to get back into the game late. But lots of mistakes, including turnovers and missing easy shots when they were able to get them inside cost them the game.

Another sluggish start for Iowa State unfortunately cost them a chance to advance in the NCAA tournament. But we thank Christofferson and the rest of the Cyclone women’s basketball team for all the effort they put into this season.