Iowa State Cyclones’ center Audi Crooks (55) celebrates with forward Addy Brown (24) after a game winning shot during the last seconds of the fourth quarter in the NCAA women’s basketball at Hilton Coliseum on Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024, in Ames, Iowa. © Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
AMES — Technically, Iowa State enjoyed two end-of-game options.
Either standout forward Addy Brown would take — and possibly make — a game-winning shot as the seconds wound down in Sunday’s tense matchup with Drake, or she’d pass it to star Center Audi Crooks down low.
But practically …
“Everyone in the gym knew where that ball was going,” senior point guard Emily Ryan said after Crooks’ layup with 0.3 seconds left beat the pesky Bulldogs, 80-78, before a crowd of 10,368 at Hilton Coliseum. “She said there were options, but let’s be real: the ball was going to Audi.”
Crooks again delivered, scoring her season-high 33rd point to help ISU (5-1) avoid a second straight loss against an intrastate rival.
“(It was) relief,” Crooks said. “I would have been so mad at myself if I would have missed that. But just to know that my teammates had enough confidence to keep throwing it in, it meant a lot.”
Crooks finished 15 of 25 from the field in 27 and a half minutes. Brown added 13 points and eight rebounds, Ryan contributed 11 points and a game-high 12 assists, and Kenzie Hare had 10 points, including three 3-pointers. The Cyclones led by as many as 10 points, but each time they threatened to pull away, the Bulldogs (2-3) answered. Star point guard Katie Dinnebier delivered most of them, draining 13 of 16 shots from the field en route to a 39-point performance one week after scoring 40 at Iowa. She also drilled eight of her 10 3-point attempts — despite ISU’s best defensive efforts.
“Like, from the jump they were in my shorts,” Dinnebier said. “Arianna Jackson, kudos to her, she did a great job defending and she was always right there.”
But Dinnebier made almost every shot anyway. She’s the second native Iowan to score prolifically against the Cyclones in the past five days. Northern Iowa’s Maya McDermott poured in 37 points in an 87-75 upset of ISU last Wednesday.
“I don’t want this to sound crazy,” the Cyclones’ 30-year head coach Bill Fennelly said. “It will sound crazy (but) I’m gonna say it anyway. … I’ve never had a week where I’ve gotten to see two better point guard performances than Maya McDermott and Katie Dinnebier (had). What Katie Dinnebier did today was absolutely incredible. I mean, we couldn’t guard her. You can’t go 8-for-10 from the 3-point line in the shootaround.”
Drake led by as many as six points in the first quarter, but ISU responded to build multiple two and three-possession leads. The Bulldogs bit back every time, though, and tied the game, 78-78, on Dinnebier’s backdoor layup with nine seconds left.
“I think that we did everything we possibly could except get a stop on that last possession,” Drake coach Allison Pohlman said.
The Bulldogs ourtebounded the Cyclones, 42-31, and outscored them 11 to five from the free-throw line. Neither team led by more than four points in a fourth quarter that featured five lead changes.
“It was one of the best games I’ve been a part of,” Fennelly said. “I thought both teams were tremendous. Played the game the right way, entertaining, nothing chippy, nothing stupid — just two teams playing basketball the way it’s supposed to be played, in my opinion.”
The game just happened to come down to the last shot, where ISU’s No. 1 option became the only option as the clocked ticked toward zero.
“You’ve gotta be willing to shoot it, and you’ve gotta be willing to miss it,” Fennelly said of Crooks’ game winner. “And Audi is the kind of kid willing to take that responsibility.”
