Zinged into the hoop

February 11, 2021 · 0 Comments

By Robert Belardi

Caledon native Izabella Zingaro scored her first four points as a Cyclone this past Saturday as Iowa State defeated the Texas Tech Lady Raiders 92-73.

In three minutes on the court, Zingaro went 2/3 from the field with all four of her points coming in the post.

“At the end of the third quarter, when I got told that I will be playing, it was the greatest feeling. I felt nervous at first, but once I got on the court I was confident and ready to go,” Zingaro said.

She wasn’t supposed to join the team until next year. However, back in December, she was asked by the Cyclones if she was able to join the team.

She sacrificed her Christmas break, completed three online courses, plus all additional work to earn her final five credits in high school. She earned an extended scholarship and is still learning a lot about the group and the system.

“I am the youngest on the team and I still have a lot of learning to do. I came to Iowa State looking forward to being able to get a head start of things and having the opportunity to get on the basketball court. I’m still learning the plays, and getting used to how the coach wants me to play and also the pace of the game at this level of basketball,” she said.

The Cyclones never took their foot off of the gas. The girls got off to a hot start, shooting 10-19 and 4-8 from the three-point line in the first quarter.

Emily Ryan led the way with 21 points and Ashley Joens with 20 points of her own.

The Cyclones scored 50 of their 92 points in the contest in the paint, 22 off of turnovers and 19 second-chance points.

It was a good win to get back on track. The girls dropped both of their previous games to Baylor and West Virginia prior to this tilt.

But, on Tuesday night, the Cyclones dropped their road game in Oklahoma, 67-61 to the Sooners.

Joens led the way once again with 20 points.

Sooners guard Madi Williams went 13-21 from the field with a game-high 27 points.

Zingaro did not make an appearance in this one.

The Cyclones will look to defend home court this Saturday against TCU Horned Frogs, before heading out on the road again to take on the Kansas Jayhawks next Wednesday.

The last time the Cyclones took on the Horned Frogs was back in December. The girls defeated TCU on the road 91-68.

As for the Jayhawks, their previous game back in January was postponed. This will be the first time they’ll go head-to-head this season.

We’ll see if Zingaro gets more minutes moving forward.