The following is a press release from Iowa State Athletics Communications:
AMES, Iowa – Two Iowa State freshman have earned All-Big 12 women’s basketball postseason honors announced by the conference office on Tuesday. Audi Crooks was a unanimous selection to the All-Big 12 First Team while Addy Brown earned All-Big 12 Honorable Mention. Both Crooks and Brown were also honored on the Big 12 All-Freshman Team.
Crooks finished the regular season as one of Iowa State’s most impactful freshmen in program history, breaking records for most points and field goals by a rookie. She is also the first Cyclone freshman to earn a spot as an All-Conference First Team member. Averaging 18.3 points per game, Crooks also tallied the highest field goal percentage by freshman in NCAA Division I. Her 58.2 percent clip from the floor was nearly three percent better than any other freshman in the country. With 512 points so far this season, she is one of just 12 Cyclones all-time to eclipse the threshold in a single season. Crooks’ 203 made field goals are not just the top mark among Iowa State freshmen, but also the No. 10 mark for all Cyclone women’s basketball players in a single season heading into the postseason. A two-time Big 12 Player of the Week and four-time league Freshman of the Week award winner, the Algona, Iowa native recorded 13 20-point performances this season and has scored in double figures in each of the last 27 games.
Brown nearly averaged a double-double through the regular season as Iowa State’s second leading scorer and distributor as well as the Cyclones’ top rebounder. Brown is one of just three Cyclones and the only freshman since 1999-00 to record at least 370 points, 230 rebounds and 135 assists in a single season. She has posted the second-most assists by an Iowa State freshman in program history with 138 dimes so far, following teammate Emily Ryan’s program-best 164 assists in 2020-21. The Derby, Kansas native is also fourth among all-time ISU freshman for points, made field goals and rebounds with 372 points on 142 makes with 234 boards. Brown has turned in the fourth-best assist total in the conference with 138 dimes through regular season play while also tallying the sixth-highest field goal percentage in the league with a .467 clip. The percentage ranks fifth among all NCAA Division I freshmen.
The dynamic freshman duo for Iowa State marks the fifth time in the previous six seasons a at least one Cyclone has appeared on the Big 12 All-Freshman Team. It is the third time in program history that two Cyclones have appeared on the league’s All-Freshman Team (Emily Ryan and Lexi Donarski, 2021; Jadda Buckley and Seanna Johnson, 2014).
Iowa State begins postseason play on Saturday, March 9th with the Phillips 66 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Championships. The Cyclones earned the No. 4 seed and a double bye into the quarterfinal round with a 12-6 Big 12 record, the fourth time in the last six seasons ISU has posted at least 12 conference wins. Iowa State will play the Game 3 winner at 11 a.m. on Saturday at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City.
