Ashley Joens ( ; born March 16, 2000) is an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

player for the

Iowa State Cyclones The Iowa State Cyclones are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Iowa State University, located in Ames. The university is a member of the Big 12 Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding 16 varsity teams (6 men's and 1 ...

of the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

. She plays both the

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers but taller, larger, and stronger t ...

and

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's m ...

positions. Joens had been considered one of the top prospects in the 2022 WNBA draft, but chose not to enter the draft and returned for a fifth season in 2022–23.

High school career

Joens attended

Iowa City High School Iowa City High School is a state school, public high school in Iowa City, Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa and is part of the Iowa City Community School District. The present high school was completed as part of the Public Works Administration, Public Works ...

, where she was a two-sport athlete in basketball and track and field. In basketball, she played on the varsity team all four years and started every single game, eventually becoming the school's all-time leader in points. As a high school senior, she averaged 30.7 points and 11.4 rebounds per game and was also named Miss Iowa Basketball at season's end. A five-star recruit out of high school, Joens committed to playing

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

, and was the program's highest rated recruit in history.

College career

Freshman season

As a highly touted freshman, Joens appeared and started in all 35 games the Cyclones played that season, averaging nearly 12 points per game. She scored double figures in 20 games, and was named to the Big 12's All-Freshman team at the end of the season.

Sophomore season

In her sophomore season, Joens saw a more expanded role as she led the

in points per game with 20.5, and also added 10.9 rebounds per game to average a

double-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

. She scored a career-high 41 points against Wright State on December 11, 2019, tied for second for a single-game scoring record by an Iowa State player.

Junior season

Joens continued to improve as she broke the Iowa State program's single-season record for points per game with 24.2, training in the barn of a family friend during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

to stay in shape. She scored 36 points in a loss to

South Dakota State South Dakota State University is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Brookings, South Dakota. Founded in 1881, it is the state's largest and most comprehensive university and the oldest continually ...

, also earning her 19th double-double of the season. In the opening round of the NCAA tournament, Joens scored 33 points to help lead the Cyclones past

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

79–76. In their next match against

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

, Joens recorded a

with 32 points and 18 rebounds in an overtime loss, becoming the 4th player from the Big 12 Conference to record 30+ points and 15+ rebounds in an NCAA tournament game. In addition to being named to the first-team All-Big 12 Conference team, Joens gained national recognition at the end of the season as she was named the 2021 recipient of the

Cheryl Miller Award The Cheryl Miller Award is an award presented annually to the best women's basketball small forward in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I competition. It is named after Hall of Famer Cheryl Miller. While at Riverside ( ...

, given to the best small forward in college basketball, as well as a third-team All-American by the

United States Basketball Writers Association The United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) was founded in 1956 by National Collegiate Athletic Association director Walter Byers to serve the interests of journalists who cover college basketball. Scholarships The USBWA annually awa ...

(USBWA).

Senior season

As a senior in 2021–22, Joens became the Cyclones' all-time scoring leader, averaging 20.3 points and 9.5 rebounds while the Cyclones reached the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2010. She was a unanimous first-team All-Big 12 selection and repeated as the Cheryl Miller Award recipient. Joens was named to all three major All-America teams, making the Associated Press and USBWA second teams and the 10-member team chosen by the

Women's Basketball Coaches Association The Women's Basketball Coaches Association is an association of coaches of women's basketball teams at all levels. The organization was formed in 1981, with the goal of addressing the needs of women's basketball coaches. The mission of the WBCA ...

"Super senior" season

Shortly after the Cyclones' 2022 NCAA tournament run ended, Joens announced that she would forego the WNBA draft and return for a fifth season at Iowa State. Because the 2020–21 basketball season had been extensively disrupted by COVID-19, the NCAA had ruled that said season would not be counted against the athletic eligibility of any basketball player, giving her the option of an extra college season. Joens was named to the six-member AP preseason All-America team on October 25, 2022.

National team career

Joens was a member of the U-18 team for their appearance in the 2018 FIBA Under-18 Women's Americas Championship, winning a gold medal as the captain of the team despite not being named to the initial roster. She was also a member of the U-19 team that won the gold medal for the FIBA U19 Women's World Cup in Bangkok. Joens was invited to participate in the Women's AmeriCup Team Trials in 2021.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;" , 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 35 , , 35 , , 31.2 , , .433 , , .365 , , .701 , , 5.0 , , 0.7 , , 0.7 , , 0.2 , , 1.1 , , 11.7 , - , style="text-align:left;" , 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 29 , , 29 , , 35.6 , , .417 , , .336 , , .806 , , 10.9 , , 1.9 , , 1.6 , , 0.3 , , 2.7 , , style="background:#D3D3D3", 20.5° , - , style="text-align:left;" ,

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, style="text-align:left;" ,

, 28 , , 28 , , 33.6 , , .463 , , .354 , , .883 , , 9.5 , , 1.6 , , 1.0 , , 0.5 , , 2.5 , , style="background:#D3D3D3" , 24.2° , - , style="text-align:left;" , 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 34 , , 34 , , 35.5 , , .409 , , .376 , , .852 , , 9.5 , , 2.0 , , 0.9 , , 0.4 , , 2.1 , , 20.9 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2 , Career , 126 , , 126 , , 33.9 , , .430 , , .362 , , .829 , , 8.6 , , 1.5 , , 1.0 , , 0.4 , , 2.0 , , 18.8

Personal life

Joens is the daughter of Brian and Lisa Joens, and has four sisters. Her older sister Courtney played basketball at

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

while her younger sister Aubrey played basketball alongside her for two seasons at Iowa State before transferring to

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

after the 2021–22 season.

Footnotes

References

External links

* *
Iowa State Cyclones profile

USA Basketball profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Joens, Ashley 2000 births Living people Sportspeople from Cedar Rapids, Iowa Sportspeople from Iowa City, Iowa Basketball players from Iowa Small forwards Shooting guards Iowa State Cyclones women's basketball players All-American college women's basketball players