(Ames, IA) – The Iowa State women’s basketball team earned their final home victory of the regular season, defeating Cincinnati 76-60 on Saturday afternoon. Iowa State now sits at 18-10 and 12-6 in Big XII play after the win over the Bearcats.
Leading on the day was Audi Crooks who earned a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Crooks missed just one shot and one free throw throughout the whole game going 9-10 from the field and 4-5 from the free-throw line. Crooks’ performance marked over 500 points in her career, the 12th Cyclone in history to score 500+ points in a single season. Hannah Belanger knocked in 17 points while also shooting 6-14 from the hardwood. Addy Brown also had some double-digit action with 10 points while dishing out five assists on the afternoon. Arianna Jackson may not have gotten in double-digit territory, but put in nine points and went 3-5 from beyond the arc. Emily Ryan led the team in assists with 12 while knocking in seven points.
For Cincinnati, the Bearcats were led on the day by Malea Williams who shot 50% from the field while knocking in 18 points and dishing out five rebounds. A’riel Jackson followed up Williams with 15 points, seven of which came from the charity stripe after shooting 7-8 at the line. The last double-digit scorer was Jillian Hayes with 11 points on the afternoon.
Iowa State continues to remain undefeated in the series against Cincinnati 3-0. The Cyclones not only beat the Bearcats in the game but also in the rebounding contest 32-28 and points in the paint 30-14. Cincinnati did win the steals battle with an 8-2 advantage.
The Cyclones finish off the regular season as they will go to Kansas City for the Big XII Championship from March 7-12th. The seeding will be determined tomorrow and you can find out right here on Western Iowa Today.
