Iowa State Cyclones’ center Audi Crooks (55) takes a shot over St. Thomas Tommies’ center Jo Langbehn (34) during the first quarter in the NCAA women’s basketball at Hilton Coliseum on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, in Ames, Iowa. © Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
AMES — She swished fadeaway jumpers in the lane. She finished at the rim with power. She deftly scored off the backboard with both hands.
In short, Iowa State’s sophomore center Audi Crooks fully showcased her “new bag” of offensive moves Thursday against St. Thomas, helping the No. 8 Cyclones (4-0) record a resounding 80-47 win before a crowd of 9,951 at Hilton Coliseum.
“I worked all summer, just perfecting those kind of counter moves,” said the 6-3 Crooks, who finished with a season-high 26 points on 12 of 17 shooting. “Things that people might not necessarily expect to see all of the time, just so in those moments, you can pull it out and get a bucket.”
TCU transfer Sydney Harris added 13 points while going 2-for-4 from 3-point range. The 6-1 junior is now 15-for-26 from the field (57.7 percent) and 7-for-13 from beyond the arc (53.8 percent).
“(Emily Ryan) is a great point guard and was able to catch me a few times in transition,” Harris said. “That was kind of what we were talking about, (when) we run the floor, they weren’t gonna be able to match up well.”
Addy Brown added 10 points on 5-for-6 shooting despite being sick, and Ryan dished out 13 assists for ISU, which built a quick 20-4 lead on the Tommies (2-1) and never looked back.
“The goal was to be 4-0 to start the season,” said veteran Cyclone head coach Bill Fennelly, whose team limited St. Thomas to 26.2 percent shooting. “Proud of where we are. Louts of work to do, obviously, but a good overall effort tonight.”
ISU sophomore Arianna Jackson drew primary guard duty on the Tommies’ leading scorer, Jade Hill, and held her to one field goal. Hill finished with eight points — 14 points below her average. Marquette transfer Kenzie Hare also guarded Hill at times, helping to limit her to 1-for-8 field goal shooting.
“I’m gonna shoutout (Jackson) and (Hare) tonight,” said Crooks, who added a game-high eight rebounds. “Locked up their leading scorer. They were huge, and that’s another big benefit for us as a team.”
Fennelly said Jackson and Hare both want to guard the opposing team’s most prolific player.
“I don’t know if I’d want either of those guys standing next to me knowing they’re gonna guard me,” Fennelly said. “They’re both committed to it. They both like it. They take pride in it.”
Hare, Fennelly added, has been working through a hip issue since she transferred to the Cyclones, so she has yet to unleash her array of offensive skills.
“(She’s) a baller,” Fennelly said. “She loves to hoop, man. She’s got a little ‘you know what’ to her. The kid can just really play. And when we got it going today for about six or seven minutes with (Ryan), Kenzie, and (Jackson) — that’s a pretty good perimeter game, which allows us to throw the ball to (Crooks) a lot better.”
St. Thomas chose to single-team Crooks most of the night and ISU took full advantage. But if fans thought they saw all of her “bag” on Thursday, they would be mistaken.
So what more can she do?
“I’m gonna say to be determined,” she said. “You’re just gonna have to wait and see. But definitely more of that mid-range (and) 3-point (shooting). Like I said, stay tuned.”
