After upsetting No. 7 Kansas State on Wednesday night, Iowa State looked to ride that momentum and break its road losing streak against No. 5 Texas. The Longhorns proved to be too much down the stretch, taking down the Cyclones 81-60.
The inside play from freshman Audi Crooks kept the Cyclones competitive early, which resulted in Crooks breaking an Iowa State record. Crooks had 24 points and was the life of the offense for the Cyclones.
Texas was too much to handle however, as the road struggles continued for Iowa State.
Close first half ends with Texas run
Iowa State went shot-for-shot with Texas for the majority of the first half. When the Longhorns scored, the Cyclones had an answer.
A hot start for Texas had the Longhorns up 12-5 in the first four minutes. The Cyclones then answered with a string of runs that included threes from Emily Ryan, Kelsey Joens and Hannah Belanger, along with a pair of layups from Crooks.
The Cyclones took the lead down to four after the opening quarter, as both teams made over 50% of their shots. A 7-1 Iowa State run in the first two minutes of the second quarter was capped off by an Arianna Jackson three to put the Cyclones in front 25-23.
From then, Crooks took control of the offense, as the freshman stretched the lead to three before Texas found life.
Texas finished the first half on a 15-2 run in the final five minutes. The run put Texas in front 43-33 at the break.
Defense could not contend late, Cyclones drop another road game
The Texas run to end the first half found its way into the second half. Iowa State hung around in the third quarter, with a small chunk taken out of the Longhorns’ lead.
A 14-3 run found Texas in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, which put the Longhorns up by 19. Texas outscored Iowa State 23-10 in the fourth to pull away for the win.
Like in the first half, the second half offense ran through Crooks. Jackson and Addy Brown did hit some big threes to try and spark the offense when it was needed.
Brown and Jackson followed Crooks in points scored with 11 and nine, respectively. Even with the struggles late on offense, the main issue was the defense being unable to get stops late as Texas shot 15-for-30 in the second half.
This marks the fifth-straight road loss for the Cyclones. Iowa State now sits at 8-6 in the Big 12 and 14-10 overall.
Crooks sets freshman record, Ryan gets career milestone
Though the game ended in a loss for Iowa State, two Cyclones had positives in terms of career milestones. Crooks set a freshman record and Ryan reached a career milestone.
Crooks set the record for field goals made by an Iowa State freshman, as she made her 164th field goal Saturday. The previous high was held by Colleen Peterson with 163 field goals made in the 1975-76 season.
Crooks shot 10-for-19 to break the record with four games to play in the regular season.
For the 11th time this season, a 20-point performance awaited Crooks, as she finished with 24.
For Ryan, the “floor general” completed her 700th career assist, the third Cyclone to reach the threshold in school history. Ryan had seven of the Cyclones’ 15 assists and finished with seven points against Texas.
