AMES – Audi Crooks broke Iowa State’s freshman season scoring record and finished with 18 points as Iowa State defeated BYU, 74-49, Saturday evening at Hilton Coliseum.
Crooks was her usual dominant self, making 8-of-12 from the field and running her season total to 476 points as she passed Megan Wilson’s record of 460 points during the 1997-98 season. Crooks also had nine boards.
The Cyclones never trailed in the game on the way to improving to 16-10 overall and 10-6 in Big 12 action. BYU fell to 15-14 overall and 5-11 in conference action.
ISU, now 12-2 at home this season, was paced by Emily Ryan’s season-high 22 points. The senior connected on 8-of-14 field goal attempts and 4-of-6 behind the arc.
The Cyclones jumped out to a 7-0 lead to start the game and increased the lead to 16-7 as Crooks connected on her record-setting basket. ISU led 20-9 at the end of the first quarter after forcing six BYU turnovers in the opening stanza.
Arianna Jackson’s 3-pointer with 7:05 remaining in the second quarter forced BYU to use a timeout. The TO stemmed the Cyclone momentum and the Cougars slowly cut into the ISU lead and trailed by just eight at the break on the heels of a 6-0 run to end the half.
Crooks had 12 first-half points and the Cyclones shot 55.2 percent from the field to go into the break with the lead.
The Cyclones broke open the game with a 15-0 run at the end of the third and beginning of the fourth quarter and extended the lead to as many as 28 points.
Ryan had nine points in the third quarter.
Top Performers
It was the senior Ryan (22) and the freshman Crooks (18) that led the way for the Cyclones, but Hannah Belanger was outstanding as well. Belanger finished with 17 points.
Lauren Gustin led BYU with 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Amari Whiting added 16 points.
Notes
Iowa State women’s basketball’s all-time record moved to 843-663 (.560) and 330-351 (.485) all-time in conference games.
Head coach Bill Fennelly’s career record moved to 772-364 (.679). His Iowa State record is now 606-311 (.660) overall.
ISU’s series record with BYU moves to 2-2 and 2-1 in the Fennelly era.
With Hannah Belanger’s 3-pointer in the first quarter, Iowa State has now recorded a triple in an NCAA women’s basketball record 920 consecutive games.
Emily Ryan has recorded an assist in every collegiate game she has played in. Today, she finished with six assists, moving her career total to 715. She has posted five or more assists in a single game 11 times this season and 79 times in her career.
Ryan holds the third-best mark in program history for career assists with 715 dimes. She is four assists from Lyndsey Medders’ second-best mark of 719.
Ryan led Iowa State with 22 points on 8-of-14 with four 3-pointers, her season high and the eighth 20-point game of her career.
Audi Crooks shattered the Iowa State freshman scoring record, previously held by Megan Taylor (1997-98) with 460 points. Crooks’ 18 points tonight moves her season total to 476 points.
Crooks holds the program record for most field goals in a season by a freshman. Her 188 makes are 13 from breaking into the program single-season top 10 regardless of class.
Up Next
The Cyclones face a road test at No. 10 Kansas State Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. The game will be on ESPN+.
