# 2023–24 Iowa State Cyclones women's basketball team

The 2023–24 Iowa State Cyclones women's basketball team represented Iowa State University during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Cyclones, were led by twenty-ninth-year head coach Bill Fennelly and played their home games at the Hilton Coliseum as members of the Big 12 Conference.

## Previous season

The Cyclones finished the 2022–23 season 22–10, 11–7 in Big 12 play to finish in third place. The Cyclones defeated Baylor, Oklahoma and Texas to win the Big 12 women's tournament, as at result they received an automatic bid to the 2023 NCAA tournament as a 5th seed in the Seattle Region 3 where they were upset by 11th seed Toledo in the first round.

## Offseason
### Departures

Iowa State Departures :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Reason for Departure |
| Denae Fritz | 3 | G | 5'11" | Freshman | Maryville, TN | Transferred to Baylor |
| Stephanie Soares | 10 | F/C | 6'6" | Senior | São Paulo, Brazil | Graduated/2023 WNBA draft; selected 4th overall by Washington Mystics |
| Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw | 13 | G | 5'10" | Senior | Indiaola, IA | Graduate transferred to Montana |
| Izzi Zingaro | 15 | F | 6'4" | Sophomore | Bolton, ON | Left the team for personal reasons |
| Lexi Donarski | 21 | G | 6'0" | Junior | La Crosse, WI | Transferred to North Carolina |
| Ashley Joens | 24 | G | 6'1" | GS Senior | Iowa City, IA | Graduated/2023 WNBA draft; selected 19th overall by Dallas Wings |
| Beatriz Jordão | 25 | C | 6'3" | GS Senior | Pombal, Portugal | Graduated |
| Morgan Kane | 31 | F | 6'3" | Senior | West Jordan, UT | Graduate transferred to Nova Southeastern |
| Maggie Vick | 32 | F | 6'2" | Sophomore | Morristown, TN | Transferred to Pepperdine |

### Incoming

Iowa State Incoming Transfers :
| Name | Num | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Isnelle Natabou | 1 | C | 6'5" | Senior | Česká Lípa, Czech Republic | Sacramento State |
| Alisa Williams | 3 | F | 6'2" | Sophomore | Denton, TX | LSU |
| Hannah Belanger | 13 | G | 5'8" | GS Senior | Grafton, WI | Truman State |

#### Recruiting

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Addyson Brown W | Derby, KS | Derby Senior High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 95 ||||||
| Jalynn Bristow F | Wichita Falls, TX | Holliday High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 94 ||||||
| Audi Crooks P | Algona, IA | Bishop Garrigan High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 93 ||||||
| Arianna Jackson G | Des Moines, IA | Theodore Roosevelt High School | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2023 Player Commits". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on February 7, 2023. ||||||

#### Recruiting class of 2024

US college sports recruiting information for 2024 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Aili Tanke G | Johnston, IA | Johnston High School | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 91 |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2024 Player Commits". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on December 11, 2023. |||||||

## Schedule

Source:
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 1, 2023* 6:30 p.m. | | Truman State | W 88–68 | | Hilton Coliseum (9,711) Ames, IA |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 6, 2023* 11:00 a.m., BIG12/ESPN+ | | Butler | W 82–55 | 1–0 | Hilton Coliseum (9,938) Ames, IA |
| November 12, 2023* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Drake | L 73–85 | 1–1 | Knapp Center (4,203) Des Moines, IA |
| November 20, 2023* 6:30 p.m., BIG12/ESPN+ | | Southern | W 78–60 | 2–1 | Hilton Coliseum (8,776) Ames, IA |
| November 24, 2023* 3:30 p.m., FloSports | | vs. Vanderbilt South Point Shootout | L 53–68 | 2–2 | South Point Arena Las Vegas, NV |
| November 25, 2023* 1:00 p.m., FloSports | | vs. Syracuse South Point Shootout | L 69–81 | 2–3 | South Point Arena Las Vegas, NV |
| November 29, 2023* 7:00 p.m. | | at St. Thomas | W 85–44 | 3–3 | Schoenecker Arena (979) Saint Paul, MN |
| December 3, 2023* 1:00 p.m., BIG12/ESPN+ | | UNC Wilmington | W 85–58 | 4–3 | Hilton Coliseum (9,933) Ames, IA |
| December 6, 2023* 6:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | No. 4 Iowa rivalry/Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series | L 58–67 | 4–4 | Hilton Coliseum (14,267) Ames, IA |
| December 10, 2023* 5:00 p.m., BIG12/ESPN+ | | North Dakota State | W 89–59 | 5–4 | Hilton Coliseum (9,808) Ames, IA |
| December 17, 2023* 12:00 p.m., BIG12/ESPN+ | | Troy | W 105–68 | 6–4 | Hilton Coliseum (9,089) Ames, IA |
| December 20, 2023* 6:30 p.m., BIG12/ESPN+ | | Northern Iowa | W 87–70 | 7–4 | Hilton Coliseum (9,346) Ames, IA |
| Big 12 Conference regular season ||||||
| December 30, 2023 2:00 p.m., BIG12/ESPN+ | | at Oklahoma State | W 76–68 | 8–4 (1–0) | Gallagher-Iba Arena (2,770) Stillwater, OK |
| January 3, 2024 6:30 p.m., BIG12/ESPN+ | | Kansas | W 69–61 | 9–4 (2–0) | Hilton Coliseum (8,929) Ames, IA |
| January 6, 2024 5:00 p.m., BIG12/ESPN+ | | at BYU | W 80–75 | 10–4 (3–0) | Marriott Center (1,872) Provo, UT |
| January 10, 2024 6:30 p.m., BIG12/ESPN+ | | No. 24 West Virginia | W 74–64 | 11–4 (4–0) | Hilton Coliseum (8,798) Ames, IA |
| January 13, 2024 12:00 p.m., BIG12/ESPN+ | | No. 4 Baylor | W 66–63 | 12–4 (5–0) | Hilton Coliseum (9,420) Ames, IA |
| January 17, 2024 6:00 p.m., BIG12/ESPN+ | No. 24 | at Texas Tech | L 63–71 | 12–5 (5–1) | United Supermarkets Arena (4,410) Lubbock, TX |
| January 20, 2024 1:00 p.m., BIG12/ESPN+ | No. 24 | TCU | W 2–0 Forfeit | 12–5 (6–1) | Hilton Coliseum Ames, IA |
| January 24, 2024 6:30 p.m., BIG12/ESPN+ | | at Kansas | L 58–60 | 12–6 (6–2) | Allen Fieldhouse (3,157) Lawrence, KS |
| January 27, 2024 1:00 p.m., BIG12/ESPN+ | | at No. 24 West Virginia | L 78–84 | 12–7 (6–3) | WVU Coliseum (4,905) Morgantown, WV |
| January 31, 2024 6:30 p.m., BIG12/ESPN+ | | Oklahoma State | W 78–67 | 13–7 (7–3) | Hilton Coliseum (9,962) Ames, IA |
| February 3, 2024 11:00 a.m., BIG12/ESPN+ | | at UCF | L 66–71 | 13–8 (7–4) | Addition Financial Arena (1,088) Orlando, FL |
| February 10, 2024 6:00 p.m., BIG12/ESPN+ | | No. 24 Oklahoma | L 72–86 | 13–9 (7–5) | Hilton Coliseum (10,377) Ames, IA |
| February 14, 2024 6:30 p.m., BIG12/ESPN+ | | No. 7 Kansas State | W 96–93 $^{2OT}$ | 14–9 (8–5) | Hilton Coliseum (9,936) Ames, IA |
| February 17, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPNU | | at No. 5 Texas | L 60–81 | 14–10 (8–6) | Moody Center (7,013) Austin, TX |
| February 21, 2024 7:00 p.m., BIG12/ESPN+ | | at Houston | W 76–64 | 15–10 (9–6) | Fertitta Center (995) Houston, TX |
| February 24, 2024 6:00 p.m., BIG12/ESPN+ | | BYU | W 74–49 | 16–10 (10–6) | Hilton Coliseum (10,896) Ames, IA |
| February 28, 2024 6:30 p.m., BIG12/ESPN+ | | at No. 15 Kansas State | W 82–76 | 17–10 (11–6) | Bramlage Coliseum (5,340) Manhattan, KS |
| March 2, 2024 1:00 p.m., BIG12/ESPN+ | | Cincinnati | W 76–60 | 18–10 (12–6) | Hilton Coliseum (10,632) Ames, IA |
| Big 12 Conference Tournament ||||||
| March 9, 2024 11:00 a.m., ESPN+ | (4) | vs. (5) No. 17 Baylor Quarterfinals | W 67–62 | 19–10 | T-Mobile Center Kansas City, MO |
| March 11, 2024 1:30 p.m., ESPN2 | (4) | vs. (1) No. 17 Oklahoma Semifinals | W 85–68 | 20–10 | T-Mobile Center Kansas City, MO |
| March 12, 2024 8:00 p.m., ESPN2 | (4) | vs. (2) No. 5 Texas Championship | L 53–70 | 20–11 | T-Mobile Center (5,380) Kansas City, MO |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| March 22, 2024* 6:30 p.m., ESPN2 | (7 P4) | vs. (10 P4) Maryland First round | W 93–86 | 21–11 | Maples Pavilion Stanford, CA |
| March 24, 2024* 9:00 p.m., ESPN | (7 P4) | at (2 P4) No. 5 Stanford Second round | L 81–87 $^{OT}$ | 21–12 | Maples Pavilion (5,811) Stanford, CA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. P4=Portland 4. All times are in Central Time. ||||||