La Salle Transfer Reportedly Has Iowa State Basketball in Final Two

A La Salle player in the transfer portal has the Iowa State Cyclones in the final two.

Iowa State Cyclones' women's basketball head coach Bill Fennelly calls a play against Arizona State during the fourth quarter in the Big-12 women’s basketball at Hilton Coliseum on Feb. 18, 2026, in Ames, Iowa | Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Iowa State Cyclones women’s basketball team has a ton of work to do with its roster this offseason.

Head coach Bill Fennelly has only three players returning from the 2025-26 roster for the 2026-27 season: Arianna Jackson, Evangelina Paulk and Freya Jensen. Nine of the 12 players hit the transfer portal.

That includes star Audi Crooks, who remains available, and Addy Brown, who has visits set. Alisa Williams, Jada Williams and Reece Beaty have all found new schools, committing to the Indiana Hoosiers, LSU Tigers and Mississippi State Bulldogs in the transfer portal.

With so many roster spots to fill, the Cyclones have to get busy on the transfer portal themselves. And, they could be nearing the successful recruitment of Ashleigh Connor.

Iowa State in on La Salle's Ashleigh Connor

Iowa State Cyclones' women's basketball head coach Bill Fennelly write in a board before Iowa State and Oklahoma State women basketball at Hilton Coliseum on February. 25, 2026, in Ames, Iowa. | Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The La Salle Explorers product is in the transfer portal after a very successful redshirt junior season. And according to Talia Goodman of On3, Iowa State is in her final two schools, along with the USF Bulls.

“La Salle transfer Ashleigh Connor had a fantastic season at the mid-major level, but has the opportunity to jump up to the P4 ranks. Sources have indicated that Connor will likely decide between two programs: Iowa State and USF,” wrote Goodman.

Connor, who earned a spot on the All-Atlantic 10 Second Team, would be a great addition to the Cyclones’ roster. Her 15.8 points and 3.9 assists per game both led La Salle, and she added 5.5 rebounds per contest as well.

She would bring a ton of experience to a roster that is going to be completely remade this offseason. In the last two seasons with the Explorers, she started all 62 games that she played in.

NEWS: La Salle’s Ashleigh Connor plans to enter the transfer portal, her agent @Alec_Smalll of @risesportsmgmt told @On3.

The 5-11 junior will enter as a grad transfer and averaged 15.8 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 3.9 apg and 2 spg this season.

TRACKER: https://t.co/wYv1Ze6704 pic.twitter.com/glrh2LZSXk

— Talia Goodman (@TaliaGoodmanWBB) March 31, 2026

Connor is capable of scoring from all levels of the court, shooting 44.0% overall, 35.6% from 3-point range and 80.4% from the foul line.

She showed incredible improvement on the defensive end, going from a Defensive Box Plus/Minus of -0.5 during the 2024-25 campaign to a +1.6 this past season. The improvement offensively was even bigger, going from -1.8 to +4.3.

As of now, the only player whom Iowa State has secured a commitment from in the transfer portal is Mya Babbitt, formerly of the Kent State Golden Flashes. She is a guard just like Connor, but at this point, position is a bit irrelevant for the Cyclones coaching staff.

They just need to find talented players to fill out the roster who fit into Fennelly’s scheme. Connor certainly has the skill set to help them out in the backcourt and would be presented with a golden opportunity to showcase her talents for a Power Conference program.