Five Cyclones reached double figures. ISU improves to 16-5 overall and 4-5 in Big 12 action.

Iowa State Cyclones’ guard Jada Williams (8) shoots the ball over over Arizona Wildcats forward Blessing Adebanjo “Adde” (14) during the second quarter in the Big-12 women’s basketball on Jan. 24, 2026, at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa.(Photo: Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune)

Tommy Birch | Des Moines Register

AMES – Iowa State women’s basketball coach Bill Fennelly knew something was wrong when he got an 8:30 a.m. call at from Tessa Boccumini, the team’s associate director of sports medicine, on Jan. 24.

Boccumini was letting Fennelly know that guard Jada Williams was battling an illness hours before the Cyclones’ game against Arizona.

“(She) said Jada was sick and wasn’t feeling good,” Fennelly recalled.

Not having Williams would be a massive loss. Iowa State had just snapped a five-game losing streak thanks to Williams’ career-high 44 points against Cincinnati on Jan. 21. The former Arizona guard was playing some of the best basketball of her career and is one of the team’s most important players, especially with star Addy Brown out with an injury.

“Unless she was just ridiculously sick, I had no doubt she would try it,” Fennelly said.

Williams played and starred Saturday, helping the No. 24 Cyclones pick up their second-straight win, a 90-65 victory over Arizona at Hilton Coliseum. She scored a team-high 19 points, handed out seven assists and grabbed four rebounds as Iowa State improved to 16-5 on the season and 4-5 in Big 12 play.

“She’s a baller,” Fennelly said. “She wants to play.”

Simply getting on the court was a big win for Williams after she missed the team’s shootaround and was listed as a game-time decision on the pregame availability report. The timing couldn’t have been much worse as the Cyclones looked to build momentum after a rough stretch.

Williams led the way with her historic performance against Cincinnati, coming three points shy of tying teammate Audi Crooks’ single-game school scoring record of 47. The Cyclones have leaned on Williams more lately with Brown out indefinitely with a lower-body injury. During the win over the Bearcats, she connected on 15-of-22 shots from the field, including 6-of-10 from 3-point range.

Having her ball handling, dominating defense and strong shooting is vital to Iowa State’s success moving forward. But with her dealing with an illness, Fennelly scrambled to prepare for the worst ahead of the Arizona game. Iowa State’s training staff wanted to see how Williams felt in pregame warmups. When the junior told them she was good to go, Fennelly put together a plan that revolved around Williams coming in and out of the game.

He even told her it would be a huge help if they could get around 20 minutes from her.

“I didn’t know how she would handle it,” Fennelly said.

Williams thrived. In 27 minutes on the floor, she connected on 8-of-11 shots from the field, including 1-of-2 from beyond the arc. She even stayed in the game late, drawing a charge with the game well out of reach for the Wildcats. The only blemish on her day was seven turnovers, which Fennelly took responsibility for with his playcalling.

“She’ll probably tell me she had seven turnovers because she was sick,” Fennelly said.

Williams tallied eight first-quarter points on 3-of-4 shooting to give the Cyclones a 26-15 lead. She made all three of her shots in the second quarter, adding seven more points to push Iowa State’s lead to 53-29 at halftime.

“I think Jada has a great awareness of the surroundings and she knows that Addy Brown’s not playing and she knows that she’s got to do things to help us,” Fennelly said.

That’s meant facilitating and scoring. The scoring has been a big addition for the Cyclones and a massive improvement for Williams, who averaged 11 points per game during her first two seasons at Arizona. Fennelly said she’s made strong strides in her shooting thanks to working with associate head coach Jodi Steyer and graduate assistant Emily Ryan, the team’s former star point guard.

“The rap on her was the kid couldn’t shoot and she’s worked really hard on it,” Fennelly said.

“We’ve always known she can score.”

Here are three more things we learned from Iowa State’s win over Arizona.

Fennelly makes history

The win was the 296th career Big 12 victory for Fennelly, matching former Baylor and current LSU coach Kim Mulkey for the all-time conference wins record.  Fennelly has compiled 301 conference wins at Iowa State, going 296-214 in the Big 12 and 5-9 in the Big Eight. After the game, he downplayed the importance of the mark.

Iowa State Cyclones’ women’s basketball head coach Bill Fennelly reacts from the bench during the second quarter against Arizona in the Big-12 women’s basketball on Jan. 24, 2026, at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa.(Photo: Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune)

“I should never be in the same discussion as Kim Mulkey,” Fennelly said. “The only reason that I tied Kim Mulkey for anything is (that) I coached in the Big 12 a lot longer than her. That record is a longevity record. It’s not a record of anything close to what she’s done. And I’m not trying to be humble. That’s a fact. I coached against Baylor a long time and a lot of those wins she got against us, a lot of them. There’s a lot more Baylor over Iowa State than Iowa State over Baylor.”

Iowa State’s bench comes up big

The Cyclones showed off thier depth of scoring, with five players totaling double figures Saturday. The biggest surprise was that two of those were off the bench. Sydney Harris scored 14 points and grabbed four rebounds while Alisa Williams, who filled in for Crooks at times while the star battled foul trouble, added 12 points and seven rebounds.

“When you have a lot of people, they’ve got to pick their poison of what they’re going to guard,” Harris said. “I think this was a really good showcase of what our team is made of.”

Evangelia Paulk gets her first start

Wofford transfer Evangelia Paulk got the first start of her Iowa State career. She scored seven points and grabbed five rebounds in 30 minutes. Paulk provided big minutes in the win over Cincinnati and even started the second half for the Cyclones.

Fennelly likes the strength and length Paulk gives the team.

“She plays harder than maybe anyone,” Fennelly said.