# 2024–25 Iowa State Cyclones women's basketball team

The 2024–25 Iowa State Cyclones women's basketball team represents Iowa State University during the 2024–25 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Cyclones, led by thirtieth-year head coach Bill Fennelly, play their home games at the Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa as members of the Big 12 Conference.

## Previous season

The Cyclones finished the 2023–24 season 21–12, 12–6 in Big 12 play, to finish in a tie for fourth place. As No. 4 seed in the Big 12 women's tournament, they defeated Baylor in the quarterfinals and Oklahoma in the semifinals before losing to Texas in the championship game. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as a 7th seed in the Portland Region 4 where they defeated Maryland in the first round before losing an overtime thriller to Stanford in the second round.

## Offseason
### Departures

Iowa State departures :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Isnelle Natabou | 0 | C | 6' 5" | Junior | Česká Lípa, Czech Republic | Transferred to FIU |
| Jalynn Bristow | 1 | F | 6' 2" | Freshman | Holliday, TX | Transferred to Texas Tech |
| Shantavia Dawkins | 4 | G | 5' 7" | Sophomore | Brampton, ON | Transferred to Dayton |
| Nyamer Diew | 5 | F | 6' 2" | Senior | Marshall, MN | Transferred to Colorado |
| Mary Kate King | 12 | G | 5' 3" | Junior | Dubuque, IA | Transferred to Hawaii Pacific |
| Hannah Belanger | 13 | G | 5' 8" | Graduate student | Grafton, IA | Graduated |

### Incoming

Iowa State incoming transfers :
| Name | Num | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Previous school |
| Lily Hanford | 6 | G | 6' 2" | Junior | DePere, WI | Oregon State |
| Lilly Taulelei | 9 | C/F | 6' 3" | Sophomore | Wellington, New Zealand | UMass |
| Mackenzie Hare | 12 | G | 5' 9" | Junior | Naperville, IL | Marquette |
| Sydney Harris | 25 | G/F | 6' 1" | Junior | Edwardsville, IL | TCU |

#### Recruiting

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Aili Tanke G | Johnston, IA | Johnston High School | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | N/A |
| 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 November 27, 2024. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| October 30, 2024* 6:30 p.m. | No. 8 | Thomas More | W 105–53 | | 20 – Crooks | 10 – Williams | 7 – Brown | Hilton Coliseum (9,931) Ames, IA |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 4, 2024* 11:00 a.m., ESPN+ | No. 8 | Chicago State | W 96–56 | 1–0 | 20 – Brown | 9 – Brown | 6 – Ryan | Hilton Coliseum (9,983) Ames, IA |
| November 7, 2024* 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 8 | Indiana State | W 64–42 | 2–0 | 16 – Crooks | 10 – Brown | 7 – Ryan | Hilton Coliseum (9,992) Ames, IA |
| November 10, 2024* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 8 | Southern | W 84–56 | 3–0 | 21 – Brown | 11 – Crooks | 10 – Ryan | Hilton Coliseum (10,097) Ames, IA |
| November 14, 2024* 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 8 | St. Thomas | W 80–47 | 4–0 | 26 – Crooks | 8 – Crooks | 13 – Ryan | Hilton Coliseum (9,951) Ames, IA |
| November 20, 2024* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 8 | at Northern Iowa | L 75–87 | 4–1 | 22 – Crooks | 12 – Brown | 6 – Ryan | McLeod Center (5,304) Cedar Falls, IA |
| November 24, 2024* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 8 | Drake | W 80–78 | 5–1 | 33 – Crooks | 8 – Brown | 12 – Ryan | Hilton Coliseum (10,368) Ames, IA |
| November 28, 2024* 12:30 p.m., FOX | No. 15 | vs. No. 4 South Carolina Fort Myers Tip-Off Island Division | L 36–76 | 5–2 | 13 – Crooks | 9 – Crooks | 3 – Brown | Suncoast Credit Union Arena (2,122) Fort Myers, FL |
| November 30, 2024* 12:30 p.m., WSN | No. 15 | vs. Middle Tennessee Fort Myers Tip-Off Island Division | W 75–59 | 6–2 | 21 – Crooks | 8 – Brown | 7 – Ryan | Suncoast Credit Union Arena (1,913) Fort Myers, FL |
| December 3, 2024* 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 20 | USC Upstate | W 92–35 | 7–2 | 15 – Crooks | 13 – Crooks | 5 – Crooks | Hilton Coliseum (9,949) Ames, IA |
| December 8, 2024* 12:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 20 | Central Michigan | W 82–56 | 8–2 | 19 – Crooks | 10 – Crooks | 6 – Ryan | Hilton Coliseum (10,103) Ames, IA |
| December 11, 2024* 8:00 p.m., FS1 | No. 18 | at No. 21 Iowa Rivalry | L 69–75 | 8–3 | 31 – Crooks | 10 – Crooks | 7 – Ryan | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (14,998) Iowa City, IA |
| December 15, 2024* 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 18 | Eastern Illinois | W 87–55 | 9–3 | 30 – Crooks | 11 – Brown | 7 – Ryan | Hilton Coliseum (10,122) Ames, IA |
| December 17, 2024* 7:30 p.m., FS1 | | vs. No. 4 UConn Basketball Hall of Fame Women's Showcase | L 68–101 | 9–4 | 22 – Crooks | 6 – Crooks | 6 – tied | Mohegan Sun Arena (6,812) Uncasville, CT |
| Big 12 Conference regular season |||||||||
| December 21, 2024 4:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | at Oklahoma State | L 75–81 | 9–5 (0–1) | 28 – Crooks | 11 – Crooks | 8 – Brown | Gallagher-Iba Arena (3,003) Stillwater, OK |
| January 1, 2025 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Kansas | W 78–64 | 10–5 (1–1) | 33 – Crooks | 11 – Brown | 6 – Ryan | Hilton Coliseum (10,807) Ames, IA |
| January 5, 2025 5:30 p.m., ESPN2 | | Utah | L 67–75 | 10–6 (1–2) | 29 – Crooks | 8 – Crooks | 8 – Brown | Hilton Coliseum (9,251) Ames, IA |
| January 8, 2025 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Arizona State | W 90–83 | 11–6 (2–2) | 20 – Crooks | 9 – Brown | 4 – Tied | Desert Financial Arena (1,640) Tempe, AZ |
| January 11, 2025 3:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Arizona | W 79–58 | 12–6 (3–2) | 24 – Harris | 8 – Brown | 6 – Brown | McKale Center (7,246) Tucson, AZ |
| January 14, 2025 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | Texas Tech | W 71–58 | 13–6 (4–2) | 28 – Crooks | 9 – Crooks | 6 – Ryan | Hilton Coliseum (9,137) Ames, IA |
| January 19, 2025 12:00 p.m., FOX | | at No. 20 West Virginia | L 68–82 | 13–7 (4–3) | 19 – Brown | 7 – Brown | 7 – Brown | WVU Coliseum (4,444) Morgantown, WV |
| January 22, 2025 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | BYU | W 82–59 | 14–7 (5–3) | 24 – Crooks | 8 – Jackson | 9 – Brown | Hilton Coliseum (9,701) Ames, IA |
| January 25, 2025 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | UCF | W 90–56 | 15–7 (6–3) | 22 – Crooks | 11 – Crooks | 11 – Ryan | Hilton Coliseum (10,326) Ames, IA |
| January 30, 2025 7:30 p.m., ESPN | | at No. 11 Kansas State | L 79–87 $^{OT}$ | 15–8 (6–4) | 28 – Crooks | 11 – Crooks | 9 – Ryan | Bramlage Coliseum (5,497) Manhattan, KS |
| February 2, 2025 3:00 p.m., FS1 | | No. 9 TCU | L 69–82 | 15–9 (6–5) | 31 – Brown | 6 – Tied | 6 – Ryan | Hilton Coliseum (10,331) Ames, IA |
| February 5, 2025 5:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Cincinnati | W 72–52 | 16–9 (7–5) | 18 – Crooks | 13 – Brown | 7 – Brown | Fifth Third Arena (1,841) Cincinnati, OH |
| February 8, 2025 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Colorado | W 86–56 | 17–9 (8–5) | 33 – Crooks | 12 – Crooks | 11 – Brown | Hilton Coliseum (10,081) Ames, IA |
| February 15, 2025 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Kansas | W 86–56 | 18–9 (9–5) | 25 – Crooks | 9 – Tied | 10 – Brown | Allen Fieldhouse (4,613) Lawrence, KS |
| February 19, 2025 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | Houston | W 64–53 | 19–9 (10–5) | 13 – Joens | 12 – Brown | 6 – Brown | Hilton Coliseum (9,047) Ames, IA |
| February 22, 2025 1:30 p.m., FOX | | at No. 19 Baylor | L 52–67 | 19–10 (10–6) | 14 – Crooks | 10 – Brown | 7 – Brown | Foster Pavilion (4,707) Waco, TX |
| February 25, 2025 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at UCF | W 98–73 | 20–10 (11–6) | 29 – Crooks | 9 – Brown | 4 – Tied | Addition Financial Arena (1,873) Orlando, FL |
| March 2, 2025 3:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | No. 14 Kansas State | W 85–63 | 21–10 (12–6) | 36 – Crooks | 10 – Tied | 10 – Ryan | Hilton Coliseum (10,728) Ames, IA |
| Big 12 Conference tournament |||||||||
| March 6, 2025 5:30 p.m., ESPN+ | (7) | vs. (15) Arizona State Second Round | W 96–88 | 22–10 | 41 – Brown | 7 – Crooks | 9 – Ryan | T-Mobile Center Kansas City, MO |
| March 7, 2025 5:30 p.m., ESPN+ | (7) | vs. (2) No. 17 Baylor Quarterfinals | L 63–69 | 22–11 | 32 – Crooks | 6 – Crooks | 7 – Brown | T-Mobile Center Kansas City, MO |
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| March 19, 2025 6:00 p.m., ESPNU | (11 B3) | vs. (11 B3) Princeton First Four | | | | | | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central. |||||||||
Source:

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Final |
| AP | 8 | 8 | 8 | 15 | 20 | 18 | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Not released |
| Coaches | 9 | 8 | 8 | 15 | 19 | 17 | 23 | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | RV | RV | RV | |