AMES – No. 11 Iowa State (14-3, 2-3 Big 12) lost to West Virginia (14-3, 4-1 Big 12) by a final of 83-70 Sunday afternoon.
ISU, without starters Addy Brown and Arianna Jackson, suffered its third-straight loss after costly turnovers leading to 30 Mountaineer points. WVU’s Kierra Wheeler led the game with 25 points.
Audi Crooks put up 22 points and 10 rebounds and began the game making her first eight shots, missing just one. Crooks tallied game No. 83 in a row with 10-plus points, while bringing in her seventh double-double this season and 25th of career.
Sydney Harris added 15 points while Reagan Wilson ended with 11. The duo each sent in three 3-pointers, while ISU totaled 10 on the day.
Jada Williams kicked off scoring with a shot from deep, while a Crooks three-point play followed before WVU got on the board. The Mountaineers kept things within one at the midway point of the first while Harris delivered a 3 right out of the media timeout, putting ISU up 14-10. Kenzie Hare put in the next Cyclone triple with 2:56 on the clock to extend a lead of 19-14, but the Mountaineers fought back flipping the lead at 24-23 on a buzzer-beating triple.
Crooks provided two lead changes in the early goings of the second including one on a shot beyond the arc, sparking another made by Wilson to put the scoreboard at 31-26. With West Virginia back within one (31-30) at the 4:54 mark, Wilson stayed hot putting in her second 3. The game again was brought to a tie at 34s with just under three minutes remaining in the half, but Wilson again delivered a deep shot. It remained tight as West Virginia took a one-point edge of 40-39 into halftime.
The Mountaineers built their lead out to double digits (49-39) to cause an Iowa State timeout at 8:05 in the third, but the Cyclones clawed back on a run of six. Free throws aided in ISU staying within four (54-50) with under two minutes left, but WVU would go up nine after a last-second jumper to head to the fourth leading 59-50.
West Virginia hit a 9-0 run as its lead stretched to 73-56 with five minutes to play and went on to win by a score of 83-70.
Up Next
Iowa State next travels to Colorado for a Wednesday, Jan. 14th matchup. The game tips at 8 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.
Notes
Iowa State women’s basketball’s all-time record moves to 885-681 (.565) and 347-361 (.490) in conference play.
Fennelly’s career record moves to 814-381 (.681) in his 38-year career and 648-328 (.664) at Iowa State.
Reese Beaty made her first career start.
With 22 points tonight, Audi Crooks extended her double-figure scoring streak to 83 games, the longest active streak in NCAA women’s basketball. It is the longest streak among Big 12 players since Brittney Griner’s 116-game streak.
The performance marked her 53rd career 20-point game.
With her 14th point of the day, Crooks scored her 1,900th career point. She is ISU’s fourth all-time leading scorer with 1,906 points.
The Algona, Iowa native finished 8-of-9 from the floor today, matching her best single-game field goal percentage this season.
Crooks was 5-of-5 at the free throw line. With her third make of the day, she entered Iowa State’s all-time top 10 for makes at the charity stripe, besting Stacy Frese’s 352 made free throws. She has made 354 free throws through 84 career games.
With a game-high 10 rebounds, Crooks finished with her seventh double-double of the season. She has posted 25 double-doubles in her career.
Sydney Harris made the 200th 3-pointer of her career with her first basket of the day. It also marked her 350th career field goal.
Harris pulled down her 300th career rebound with her first board of the day.
Jada Williams scored her 200th point as a Cyclone on her first triple of the day. Williams has scored 204 points at Iowa State.
