KANSAS STATE, Mo. — For the second season in a row, the Iowa State women’s basketball team found itself playing No. 5 Texas for the Big 12 Championship. Last year, the Cyclones came out on top. This year was the opposite, as Iowa State lost 70-53.

Freshman phenoms in Iowa State’s Audi Crooks and Texas’ Madison Booker were the highlights of both teams. Each led scoring for their teams, Crooks with 25, 19 of which coming in the second half, and Booker with 26.

Iowa State had trouble all night containing the Big 12 Co-Player and Freshman of the Year as she led her team to the Big 12 title in Texas’ final ride in the conference. Iowa State finished the Big 12 season with a 14-7 record including the tournament.

“[Texas] looked like a Final Four team today,” Iowa State head coach Bill Fennelly said.

The first half was where the problems began for the Cyclones, with troubles that included turnovers, an inability to finish under the rim and difficulty breaking the Texas press. The Longhorns pressured the Cyclones right away and it frazzled them, which played a part in the 10 first-half turnovers.

Texas shot lights out and dominated Iowa State on both sides of the ball. The Longhorns shot 7-for-11 and Iowa State shot 6-for-12 from deep at the end of the game, but Iowa State shot 47% from the field as opposed to Texas at 46%.

The shots fell on both sides of the ball, but Iowa State got out to a slow start and found itself down by 10 within minutes. Two quick threes from guard Hannah Belanger breathed some life into the dormant Cyclone offense, but only for a moment.

Texas held Iowa State scoreless for the next eight minutes and went on a 16-0 run. Strangely enough, the Cyclones scored more points in the second quarter (11) than in the first (10).

“We dug ourselves a hole,” Crooks said. “I think our preparation could have been a little bit better this game. We could have been a little bit more focused. It just all could have been that little bit.”

Guard Kelsey Joens nailed a three at the buzzer to send the team into halftime. It energized the team and crowd, but the Cyclones still trailed by 19 with 20 minutes to play.

The three from Joens carried over and sparked some magic early in the third quarter. Crooks hit two fadeaways to start the third and a 7-0 run highlighted by a Emily Ryan three cut Texas’ lead to 15.

Iowa State hung around the rest of the way in the third quarter and brought the lead down to 14 points. Guard Arianna Jackson hit a big 3-pointer with a minute to go before Booker countered with a shot for Texas right at the buzzer.

“Madison Booker was Player of the Year for a reason,” Ryan said. “She proved it tonight. Hats off to them and the way they showed up.”

Even as the shots continued to fall for the Cyclones, the shots for the Longhorns also fell. Every time Iowa State started to inch its way back, Texas had an answer to keep the lead above 10 points for the entire second half.

“Defensively we weren’t very sound,” Crooks said.

The Cyclones started to get aggressive and pushed the ball up the court and inside. The aggression did not work out, as offensive fouls came multiple times, some on back-to-back possessions.

Iowa State doubled its turnover total from the first half and finished with 20 compared to Texas’ seven. Those missed opportunities were the biggest piece to the Cyclones’ struggles to try and bridge the gap.

The second half was a lot closer than the first, even with the turnover issues. Iowa State outscored Texas by two points in the final 20 minutes, but the halftime deficit of 19 was far too much to claw back from.

In the end, Texas took home the 2023-24 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Championship in its final season in the conference. In a season where the Cyclones were not expected to make a run, they finished second in the Big 12 and took down six top-25 teams this season.

“[Iowa State] never made excuses,” Fennelly said. “They accomplished a lot of things that very few people thought they could. Our freshmen are phenomenal people who are turning into great basketball players and they are led by the best leader I’ve ever been around.”

That leader is Ryan, who, along with Crooks, was named to the Big 12 Women’s Basketball All-Tournament Team. Crooks averaged 24.3 points and eight rebounds across her three tournament games and Ryan averaged 10.3 points and 9.3 assists.

“Could not be more proud of them,” Fennelly said. “What they’ve done, how they’ve done it.”