ISU’s Audi Crooks unstoppable in NCAA victory ‘She’s one of a kind’
STANFORD, Calif. – Iowa State women’s basketball player Audi Crooks didn’t realize just how dominant her night was until she sat down at a postgame press conference table Friday night. There, in a chair next to her, was Cyclones point guard Emily Ryan, who had a copy of the box score. As Ryan peered down over the stat sheet, she pointed out Crooks’ line to her freshman teammate. “She dropped 40 (points) on 20 shots,” Ryan said. “That’s pretty eye-popping right there.” Everything about Crooks’ stat line made you stop and take notice. She poured in 40 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as 7-seed Iowa State battled back from a 20point deficit to beat Maryland 93-86 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Maples Pavilion. Crooks was nearly perfect, shooting 18-for-20 from the field and turning in one of the best single-game performances in Iowa State history. She was two points shy of the Cyclones’ single-game record, set in 1984 by Tonya Burns. The 18 field goals tied an Iowa State record. Was she aware that her night was becoming one for the record books? “I pretty much had zero knowledge,” Crooks said with a smile. Iowa State anticipated having a matchup advantage with the 6-foot-3 Crooks in the post against an undersized Maryland team. But no one could have predicted a performance like the one she had in her first NCAA Tournament game. The Algona native was active, efficient and nearly flawless while setting Iowa State single-game NCAA Tournament records for points and field goals. Her 40-point performance was just the fourth in school history, but no other Cyclone has put up numbers like this with so much on the line. Iowa State
needed almost all of Crooks’ production as it battled back from a 50-30 deficit. She had two layups in a 10-0 run that tied the score at 59-59 in the third quarter.
Crooks then gave the Cyclones their first lead since the first quarter on a three-point play. She pushed Iowa State to the finish line with a flawless fourth quarter, connecting on all five shots she took while finishing with 11 points in the frame.
Crooks had a chance to tie Iowa State’s single-game scoring record but missed two late free throws. The only blemishes on her night were four missed free throws and missed layups in the first and second quarters.
“When you’re surrounded by people that you love, that care about you, that trust you as much as they do to get me the ball, that speaks volumes to how we play as a unit,” Crooks said. “I just bow down to the guards.”
According to ESPN, Crooks is the first player over the last 25 years with 40 points and 90% field-goal shooting in a women’s NCAA Tournament game. Crooks’ 40 points matched Brittney Griner’s mark for most points scored by a Big 12 player in an NCAA Tournament game.
She was instrumental in Iowa State notching the second-largest comeback victory in NCAA women’s tournament history. Only Texas A&M, which stormed back from a 21-point deficit to beat Penn in 2017, has had a bigger rally than Iowa State.
Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly called it one of the best performances he’s seen by an Iowa State player given the situation and efficiency of Crooks.
“We’ve had a lot of great performances, but I think in its totality it was pretty impressive,” Fennelly said.
Crooks’ teammates understood how big the moment was, mobbing her on the court when the game finished. As Crooks was ushered to press row to do an interview with ESPN2 broadcasters, teammate Nyamer Diew rushed over to the table to praise the young Cyclones star. In the locker room, Diew jotted down the date and wrote “40” in big numbers to mark the occasion.
While Crooks was proud of her achievement, she didn’t want the attention on herself. She credited her teammates for her success and tried to focus on the victory, not her historic night.
“This is a big night, not for me, but for Iowa State,” Crooks said.
It was a special night for all of them. The Cyclones advanced to Sunday’s second-round game thanks to Crooks, who captured the attention of plenty of people tuning in outside of Ames. Her big-time performance also sent a statement to other teams that Iowa State will be a tough matchup in the NCAA Tournament, no matter how big of a hole they might fall into.
“She’s one of a kind,” Maryland coach Brenda Frese said.