KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After a solid 96-88 win over Arizona State on Thursday, the Cyclones have little time to prepare for No. 17 nationally ranked Baylor, which they take on at 5:30 p.m. Friday.
Baylor lost its season finale against TCU, which was the game that determined who got the No. 1 seed and No. 2 seeds. Despite the loss, the Bears had won their previous nine games, improving their record from 16-5 to 25-6.
In the regular season, the Bears took down the Cyclones by 15 points in Waco, Texas, the largest Big 12 loss of the season for Iowa State. The 34% shooting was also the Cyclones’ third-lowest shooting percentage of the season, and they only hit one 3-pointer.
Although the low shooting mark was a significantly worse shooting night than usual for Iowa State, the Baylor defense deserves some credit. The Bears hold their opponents to under 60 points per game and like to pressure the ball handlers all game.
“Baylor just defensively overwhelmed us when we played them a couple of weeks ago,” Iowa State head coach Bill Fennelly said. “We need to match their physicality, handling the ball, obviously, have to shoot the ball better than we did down there.”
Like Fennelly said, taking care of the ball is a must against a solid Bears defense. In that matchup, the Cyclones turned it over 21 times, the third-most in any game this season. On Thursday, however, the Cyclones only turned it over eight times.
Another aspect of the game that Fennelly brought up was the shooting they lacked in Waco. If sophomore forward Addy Brown can come close to matching what she did in just the first half on Thursday, the scoring will improve.
Brown put up 41 points overall and had 24 of them in the first half. She was just four points shy of matching former Baylor center Brittney Griner’s Big 12 tournament record of 45 points.
“I’m just gonna enjoy what we did as a team and kind of just have this moment,” Brown said. “And then [Friday], start preparing for a really good team.”
Additionally, the Cyclones may need sophomore center Audi Crooks to step up and stay out of foul trouble against the Bears. Fouling out against Arizona State limited Crooks to just 22 minutes of play, one of her lowest since conference play began.
Crooks took just 10 shots against Baylor in the previous matchup, and she only made it to the line once. If she can get a little more volume and draw some fouls, she could be a very effective player against a tough Bears defense.
The thing that happens when Crooks gets going is the rest of the defense is forced to collapse and leave shooters open. With Brown and junior guard/forward Sydney Harris knocking down eight of the team’s nine threes on Thursday, other players may be able to contribute more from the outside.
The Cyclones take on the No. 2 seeded Bears at 5:30 p.m. Friday from the T-Mobile Center in the Big 12 Tournament Quarterfinals.
