AMES – Iowa State welcomed the new year with a wide variety of rotations and lineups to gain a 78-64 win against Kansas, marking the Cyclones’ first Big 12 conference win of the season following two consecutive losses.

With a well-developed core of three players for Iowa State’s starting lineup throughout the season, consisting of sophomore center Audi Crooks, sophomore forward Addy Brown and senior guard Emily Ryan, the last two spots in the lineup have been a logical change throughout the season.

Filling the last two spots for Wednesday’s game against the Jayhawks were sophomore guard Arianna Jackson, who has become a dependable player in the starting lineup throughout the season, and junior guard/forward Sydney Harris. 

The recent transfer from TCU played her first game positioned in the starting lineup, playing a new high of 34 minutes this season. Harris secured eight points from her two 3-point shots and her two successful free throws. Along with her contributions offensively, Harris was a strong defensive player, as she secured five defensive rebounds during her time on the court.

Halfway through the first quarter, the Cyclones have a typical rotation of substituting Crooks with sophomore forward Alisa Williams. However, Crooks was replaced on the court by sophomore center/forward Lilly Taulelei, who has been a player who tends to join the court toward the end of the game. 

“Basically [Taulelei] has been the best of her and [Williams] in practice and it’s a tossup. I mean, they both know we need, in a normal night, we need 10 minutes, and that’s their role,” Iowa State head coach Bill Fennelly said. “I thought both did a couple of positive things, it was just a practice decision.”

With the strong starting lineup and change in rotations early on, Iowa State had a strong first quarter to set the tone for the game. The Cyclones outscored Kansas 19-13, gaining a six-point lead in the first 10 minutes of play. The early lead was contributed by two players, Crooks who scored 16 points and Ryan who secured three points.

“Audi [Crooks] night in and night out consistently does her job. Just her being so reliable every single night is so important for our team,” Ryan said. “Consistency is something that’s just so impressive. Every single night she shows up.”

“Coach [Fennelly] kind of let me know during practice that it was going to be a game where the ball’s going to go in quite a bit because he thought that’s where our advantage would be,” Crooks said. “When he says things like that, I kind of take that with a lot of pride and just try to finish and [the] guards do an amazing job of getting the ball inside.”

Crooks ended the night with a team-high 33 points, making 13 out of her attempted 18 field goal shots and contributed heavily to the team’s 54% of points from in the paint. Crooks added two blocks and seven rebounds as well.

“Not only does [Crooks] performance impact her numbers on statsheets, but it also impacts everyone on the team,” Ryan said. “It’s just a big difference when she’s on the court and doing her job. She just impacts so much that doesn’t go on a stat sheet. It’s just really special that I get to play with her.”

Despite unequal scoring in the first quarter, the team’s ball possession changed frequently due to consistent rotation adjustments on the court. Sophomore guard Kelsey Joens and freshman guards Reagan Wilson and Aili Tanke made their appearance in the last minutes of the first quarter. 

Moving into the second quarter with Crooks being substituted out again, Williams joined the court for the first time and scored three points.

With the early lead build-up throughout the first half, the Cyclones were fed a 14-point lead in the last minutes of the game and were balancing foul trouble between their starting lineup players. This led to the Cyclone players, such as junior guard Lily Hansford, who had not yet played, to get her minutes in and prevent Kansas from gaining possession of the ball in the last minutes.

“I think we just decided to stop giving them the ball, to be honest with you,” Crooks said. “We were giving them a lot of really easy points, easy possessions, and second chances, those are things that have killed us in games prior and those are things that can’t happen.”