STANFORD, Calif. – The season has been full of surprises for the Iowa State women’s basketball team. The Cyclones, who entered the 2023-24 campaign with a ton of potential but not much experience, weren’t even expected to be in the NCAA Tournament this season.
Seven seed Iowa State delivered another stunner Friday night, storming back from a 20-point deficit and beating Maryland 93-86 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Maples Pavilion. It was the second-largest comeback in NCAA women’s basketball tournament history.
Audi Crooks poured in a career-high 40 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Cyclones, who advanced to Sunday’s second-round game. Crooks, who set an Iowa State NCAA Tournament single-game record for field goals (18), tallied the fourth 40-point game in Iowa State history.
She came up just short of Tonya Burns’ single-game record of 42 points.
“This is a special team and I just didn’t want it to end,” Crooks said.
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It nearly did as Iowa State fell behind early after a strong shooting start from Maryland. The Terrapins led for most of the first half and rarely missed, shooting 60% (18-for-30) from the field including 69% (9-of-13) from 3-point range. They matched a season-high for points in a quarter with 33 in the first and continued rolling from there.
They went on a 10-0 run in the second quarter and built a 48-29 lead on a layup by Jakia Brown-Turner.
Maryland’s Allie Kubek, who entered the game averaging just 8.4 points per game, eclipsed that by halftime. Kubek tallied 19 points in the first two quarters on 6-of-6 shooting from the field, including 5-of-5 from 3-point range to help Maryland take a commanding 52-36 lead into halftime. Maryland’s largest lead was 50-30 with about 90 seconds left in the first half.
“Our goal was not to let them shoot a lot of free throws and guard certain people, which means someone else is open and the 3s that Allie got, that’s my fault,” Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly said. “That was our game plan, to guard the free throw line and the other kids, and credit to (Maryland coach Brenda Frese), they made us pay for it early.”
Fennelly made some adjustments at halftime, including opting to keep Crooks close to the basket at all times. The move worked, with Crooks exploding in the second half. The Cyclones, who battled back from multiple double-digit deficits during the regular season, made another comeback Friday. It began with a 10-0 run in the third quarter to tie it at 59-all.
Crooks had a pair of layups in the run. Kelsey Joens unleashed a 3 from the corner that tied the game. Iowa State briefly took a 62-61 lead on an and-one from Crooks. Maryland and Iowa State were then deadlocked in a 66-66 tie heading into the fourth quarter.
Crooks had four points in a 7-0 run that gave Iowa State a 78-72 lead. Back-to-back baskets by Crooks pushed the lead to 89-82. In the leadup to the game, Iowa State freshman Addy Brown raved about what a mismatch nightmare Crooks could be for Maryland. She was right, with Crooks shooting 18-for-20 from the field. Her lone misses were on layup attempts in the first and second quarter.
Crooks was perfect from the field in the fourth quarter, connecting on all five of her shots from the field. Brown smiled in the locker room as the Cyclones celebrated the freshman’s big night.
“They can’t guard her and that was shown tonight,” Brown said.
Crooks got plenty of other help. Emily Ryan scored 18 points and added 14 assists for the Cyclones. Joens finished with 12 points. Hannah Belanger added 10 points. After the game, Fennelly praised Crooks, calling her performance one of the best in Iowa State history. Iowa State’s performance as a whole was equally impressive.
“I thought that was one of the most entertaining games I’ve ever been a part of,” Fennelly said.