Iowa State Cyclones’ center Audi Crooks (55) shoots the ball over as UCF Knights center Khyala Ngodu defends during the first quarter in the Big-12 women’s basketball at Hilton Coliseum on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025, in Ames, Iowa. © Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
AMES — Audi Crooks dominated the paint. Addy Brown did a little bit of everything. And previously-cold players sank long-range shots with regularity.
Iowa State didn’t merely beat Big 12 bottom dweller UCF Saturday at Hilton Coliseum. The suddenly-surging Cyclones imposed their will, building a double-digit lead within a few minutes, en route to a 90-56 triumph that played out in front of 10,326 fully satisfied fans.
“Very good balance,” ISU head coach Bill Fennelly said. “Everyone contributed.”
ISU (15-7, 6-3) started the game with a 13-0 splurge and won for the sixth time in its past seven games. The Knights (7-11, 0-8) haven’t won a game in 49 days and played without their top three leading scorers.
“They have made some hard decisions with their team,” Fennelly said. “Obviously, they had. Limited roster but they’re doing things the right way, and at a time when most people don’t want to do it that way, I have a lot of respect for people (who) do.”
Crooks notched a game-high 22 points and 11 rebounds while going 8-for-12 from the field. The 6-3 sophomore’s now scored a minimum of 20 points in 10 of her past 12 games.
“She just took control,” UCF head coach Sytia Messer said. “We were hoping that she would miss a few and we could get her in foul trouble, but that didn’t happen. That’s the only way we figured with the experience that we have right now that we could defend her.”
Brown scored 13 points, collected seven rebounds and doled out seven assists. Veteran point guard Emily Ryan added a game-high 11 assists to add to her school record total.
Four different Cyclones scored during their game-opening 13-0 barrage. Guard Arianna Jackson scored five of her 13 points in that span and sparked ISU with a 3-pointer just 35 seconds into the game.
“We’ve got a tough stretch coming,” Jackson said of upcoming top-10 matchups with Kansas State and TCU. “So just keep working, keep grinding.”
That’s what transfer guard Lily Hansford did while struggling to score this season. She sank her first four 3-point attempts on Saturday and finished with an ISU career-high 12 points.
“Just trust in your reps,” Hansford said. “Trust that you’ve put the work in and getting extra reps always helps. That’s kind of what I’ve been doing.”
Hansford had made just three of her previous 30 shots from beyond the arc this season after shooting 44.9 percent from long-distance for Oregon State last season. So her hot-shooting performance amounted to a return to form — and bodes well for ISU’s offensive prospects moving forward.
“That was fun to see,” Fennelly said. “That was probably the highlight of the game.”
Crooks and Brown scored 10 points apiece in the first half, helping the Cyclones forge a commanding 47-27 lead. ISU sank 12 3-pointers and notched 29 assists on 34 made field goals.
The Cyclones will take a couple days off before preparing for Thursday’s big game at No. 10 Kansas State.
“I’ve just told them, ‘Lock yourself in, block out the noise, and we’ll see,’” Fennelly said. “But I love this team.”
