Iowa State Cyclones center Audi Crooks (55) looks for a shot as Kansas State Wildcats forward Ayoka Lee (50) defends during the first quarter of a NCAA women’s basketball at Hilton Coliseum on Feb.14, 2024, in Ames, Iowa. © Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK
AMES – When Iowa State needed a free throw in Wednesday’s 96-93, double-overtime victory against No. 7 Kansas State, they got one.
The Cyclones ended up needing far more than that, and they delivered. Iowa State didn’t miss a single free throw throughout either overtime period, finishing 31-36 from the line to claim the upset and a resume-changing win at Hilton Coliseum.
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Between hitting their final 18 free throws in the game, and not recording a turnover after the 8:23 mark in regulation, the young squad delivered one of its most impressive performances of the year.
Audi Crooks played the best game of her career in the win, scoring 20 points and recording a team-high nine rebounds while battling K-State’s star post Ayoka Lee.
“This is one of the best college basketball games I’ve ever seen in this building,” Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly said. “It had a NCAA Tournament, second round regional feel to it. Both teams played hard. Both teams did everything they could to win the game, and there were a lot of great players making great plays. But, at the end of the day, we did what we needed to do, and I’m really proud of my kids for it.”
Crooks played a career-high 35 minutes and 25 seconds in the game, and stayed resilient to fatigue.
Fennelly checked multiple times with the freshman, but came away from the game impressed with her effort.
“I mean – 35 minutes – that’s a lot of minutes for her,” Fennelly said. “And she was wobbling a little bit, and everyone’s just like, ‘you know, play through it, play through it.’ (I asked), ‘do you need one?’ and she goes, ‘coach, I can do it, I can do it.’ So that’s a credit to her, and it’s credit to the fact that she cares enough about her teammates to know that we need her in the game. Those things don’t always go together. It’s usually like, ‘hey, take me out, I need one,’ and she was like, ‘Alright, I can do this.’ I’m very impressed with her tonight, and just excited that she got to learning against one of the best players in the country.”
Paired with Crooks’ extended play in the post was an efficient game from Isnelle Natabou.
The two split time in the game and Natabou finished with a 5-6 mark from the field in her 12 minutes on the court.
“To her credit, think about a kid that knows every game, she’s going to get 10 to 12 minutes, and (she goes) in there and goes five-for-six,” Fennelly said. “She made a huge layup at the end of the shot clock (in double overtime) in a close game. And then she comes out of the game and she is Audi’s biggest fan. That is not easy to do. When you’re sitting behind one of the best post players in the country… we don’t win the game without her tonight.”
Iowa State originally got out to a double-digit lead during the first quarter against the Wildcats, helped by a pair of back-to-back three’s from Kelsey Joens and Nyamer Diew, which forced a timeout from Kansas State coach Jeff Mittie. Joens secured 13 points in the game, adding four 3-pointers and seven rebounds.
The Cyclones parlayed the start into a 13-point lead at halftime, but K-State backed up its ranking in the third quarter, trimming its deficit to two.
For the final 19 minutes and 41 seconds of the game, neither team led by more than three points.
“It was a great moment,” Crooks said of the postgame celebration. “We had been working hard. We had a rough stretch these last few weeks. This week, I feel like we were all really locked in and really focused, and it paid off. We were all just trying to enjoy that moment and soak it in.”
Crooks’ scoring output in the win was matched by Kansas native Addy Brown, who was perfect from the 3-point line as well as the charity stripe to push Iowa State to the finish.
After a made free throw in the closing moments of the game, Brown blew a kiss to a fan that caught her attention in the stands.
“He told me, ‘Happy Valentine’s Day,’ so I was just trying to be nice and blow him a kiss,” Brown said. “So, happy Valentine’s Day everybody.”
Happy Valentine’s Day 😘
🌪️🏀🌪️ pic.twitter.com/pUjIODtPzg
— Cyclone Basketball (@CycloneWBB) February 15, 2024
The other Kansas native in Emily Ryan struggled to shoot from the field, but didn’t let it effect her impact on the game.
Ryan finished 1-14 shooting, but was 10-10 from the free throw line with 12 assists and seven rebounds.
The win gives Iowa State a boost in its NCAA Tournament resume. The Cyclones now boast two wins over AP Top 10 teams with five games to go in the regular season.
It won’t get any easier for the team, with a matchup against No. 5 Texas looming, but Iowa State plans on resting its players as much as it can Thursday.
“There won’t be much practice tomorrow, we’ll see if they can get out of bed,” Fennelly said. “But I think what it does, is there is some residual that, ‘okay, if you play this hard, you follow the game plan, you focus on taking care of the ball, and you focus on making free throws – you can beat a top 10 team.”
Saturday’s matchup aside, the Cyclones will take some time to enjoy this win. They had hit a rough patch in its season and came in 1-5 in their last six games.
Fennelly joked that his players will know why they practice free throw shooting so much in Ames.
“I think (this win) really came at probably a critical time,” Fennelly said. “We’ve been wobbling here a little bit and struggling on the road. Knowing what you have on Saturday, you’re just looking for something positive. When the season’s over, we’ll look back and (look at this game) and ask if it turned the season around, and I don’t know (the answer to that). But the there’s no question, it puts us in a direction that we needed.”
Iowa State will travel to Austin for a 3 p.m. tipoff on ESPN2 on Saturday, only this time with another wrinkle of an understanding of the potential that’s in its locker room.
“I have have had no issues with our team effort-wise and in what we’re doing,” Fennelly said. “We haven’t played great, and that’s my fault. But for them to have some level of success tonight, I think, will be something certainly they can build on.”
