(Kansas City, MO) – In an exciting Monday afternoon competition, the Iowa State Cyclones were able to push the tempo all game long, capturing an 85-68 victory over the Oklahoma Sooners and shifting their way into the Big XII Conference Championship. Today’s win marked the Cyclones’ sixth AP Top-25 victory of the season, which ties for the second-most in Iowa State history and the most since the 2001-02 season.
Iowa State’s success was that they just didn’t miss too many shots in the game, going 57.9% from the field and 52.2% from beyond the arc. They were able to hold the Sooners to one of their season-lows from the field at just 36.1% and shot just 30.3% from downtown. Oklahoma continued to put what hockey fans would call different lines in the game of five players per substitution at multiple points to get the offense going, but Iowa State’s defense continued to prevail all game long.
The player who has continued to lead the Cyclones all season long was also the leading scorer in today’s game, Audi Crooks. The freshman and All-Big XII First-Team member put down 25 points while hauling in nine boards and shot 12-19 from the field as a dominant force in the paint. Sitting right alongside her was another Big XII All-Freshmen Team member Abby Brown. She earned 17 points, seven assists, and also grabbed six rebounds. Emily Ryan finished off double-digit scorers for the Cyclones with 12 points and 10 assists for a double-double while also snagging six rebounds. Ryan became the 11th player in NCAA women’s basketball history since the 1999-2000 season to put down 1,200 points, 750 assists, 500 rebounds, and 160 steals in her career. Both Hannah Belanger and Kelsey Joens knocked in eight points and grabbed three boards.
On the opposite end for Oklahoma, the Sooners were led on the afternoon by Payton Verhulst who shot 50% from the field, knocking down 23 points and grabbing seven rebounds. She was followed up by Sahara Williams who also shot 50% from the field but finished with 16 points and five rebounds. The last double-digit scorer for the Sooners was Skylar Vann who cruised to put down 12 points, dished out four assists, and snagged four boards.
Iowa State led in points in the paint 34-26 and in bench points 20-4. Oklahoma was able to lead in points off turnovers 17-14 while forcing 21 Cyclone turnovers with 13 total steals on the afternoon, one of their top figures on the season in the steals category. The Cyclones led for 36:52 of the game while Oklahoma led for 2:20 and featured just two lead changes. The Cyclones are
We will see the Cyclones hit the hardwood tomorrow, March 12th as they take on the winner of Texas and Kansas State at 8:00 p.m.
