Iowa State’s defense set the tone in the opening minutes at Houston.
But when the Cougars took the lead late in the first quarter, Holliday, Texas native Jalynn Bristow was there to flip the switch in momentum and help propel her team to its ninth Big 12 win of the season.
“I thought (Bristow) gave us a huge lift in that quarter,” Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly said on the Cyclone Radio Network after his team’s 76-64 win. “She might have played the best game that she’s played since she’s been at Iowa State. That was good.”
Although the freshman finished with eight points, and didn’t score in the second half, she got things going for the Cyclones (15-10, 9-6) when they needed her the most. Bristow sank a pair of 3-pointers as Iowa State outscored Houston by 18 points in the second quarter to lead by 19 at the half.
“You go on the road and you just you fight and scratch,” Fennelly said. “Yeah, you’ve got the big lead and you win by 12, but the big thing is to find a way to win the game.”
Audi Crooks led the Cyclones in scoring for the fourth-straight game, and the seventh game of her last eight. The 6-3 freshman from Algona again tied her career-best single-game mark in scoring with 25 points and also grabbed 12 rebounds.
Emily Ryan neared the triple-double mark once more during her Iowa State career, netting 9 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists.
“It was a huge win for us,” Ryan said. Any win on the road in the big 12 is massive for us. We had a lot of people step up in big moments. It wasn’t always pretty and that’s how it goes in the big 12, especially on the road. We weren’t expecting an easy 40 minutes. We had a really strong second quarter and (there) was a big emphasis (to) we keep that momentum going.”
ISU freshman Addy Brown picked up the pace in the second half and finished with 16 points, seven assists, and a team-high 13 rebounds. The Cyclones outrebounded Houston by 25, grabbing 58 boards to the Cougars’ 28.
“I think the rebounding – number one – that’s the biggest thing we’ve talked a lot about,” Fennelly said. “When we rebound, obviously the other team’s not scoring and it starts our offense and gets us in transition. I thought Audi (Crooks) did a great job posting up. I thought we got a couple other things going to the rim, we just some forced turnovers a little bit here and there.”
All in all, it’s another important road win for the Cyclones as they enter the final stretch of conference play, inching closer to clinching one bye in the Big 12 tournament, which would slot them for a Friday, March 8 game in Kansas City.
Iowa State returns home for the first of its last three regular-season games of the season on Saturday, to try for the season sweep against BYU (6 p.m. ESPN+).
Big 12 WBB Standings
As of games played Feb. 21
1. Oklahoma 13-2
2. Texas 12-3
2. Kansas State 12-3
4. West Virginia 11-4
5. Iowa State 9-6
5. Baylor 9-6
7. Kansas 8-7
8. Oklahoma State 6-9
9. BYU 5-10
9. Texas Tech 5-10
11. Houston 4-11
11. Cincinnati 4-11
11. TCU 4-11
14. UCF 3-12
