Iowa State at Denver

Recap

The Big Storyline: Iowa State upset Denver in the Pioneers’ home arena. Cyclone Addy De Jesus earned her first career 10 on vault and Ariana Orrego competed for the first time since 2019. Meanwhile, the Pioneers faltered and had to count at least one score in the 9.6 range on every event except bars. Lynnzee Brown didn’t compete floor, presumably to rest her body, and classmate Mia Sundstrom was notably missing as well. Andrea Maldonado was notably missing for the Cyclones—and they were still able to hit 196 and beat Denver. 

Implications: While it was an impressive upset, Big 12 conference rankings will remain unchanged. Denver’s lackluster performance means it will fall to No. 8 nationally while Iowa State will move up a spot to No. 17. The biggest takeaway for the Cyclones will be that they were able to keep pace with Denver, even if it was an off day. We’ve seen these two teams match up twice now, and both times were extremely close. The times of Denver and Oklahoma being leaps and bounds above the rest of the conference may be over. 

Records: Addy De Jesus scored her first 10 on vault and set an all around career high of 39.525.