AMES –As Iowa State women’s basketball began pulling away from Southern on Nov. 5, Cyclones coach Bill Fennelly began checking on star center Audi Crooks. Fennelly has been trying to build up Crooks’ minutes slowly and kept asking the junior if she wanted to come out of the game.
Crooks continually shook him off.
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“When we’re throwing you the ball and she’s making layups, I wouldn’t want to come out either,” Fennelly said.
Crooks delivered one of the best performances of the night. The Algona native tallied a game-high 29 points and grabbed 14 rebounds as the 17th-ranked Cyclones beat Southern, 85-58, at Hilton Coliseum. Iowa State improved to 2-0 on the season, thanks in large part to the big performance from Crooks.
“It was one of those games that people are getting used to seeing her play,” Fennelly said.
Crooks has already become one of the biggest stars in women’s basketball and one of the best players in the program’s history. She earned a starting spot as a freshman and took the Cyclones to the Big 12 Tournament title game in her first season.
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She followed that with an even better sophomore season, averaging a league-best 23.4 points per game. The success led to Crooks being named the league’s preseason Player of the Year. Even after Iowa State upgraded its roster in the offseason, Crooks is still a central part of the team’s success.
Iowa State Cyclones’ Audi Crooks (55) shoots the ball around Southern Lady Jaguars guard Kiana Wilson (23) during the first quarter on Nov. 5, 2025, at Hilton Coliseum, Ames.
She’s the player many teams game plan for. Crooks is also the first player that Fennelly typically focuses his game plan on. The game against Southern was no different. Fennelly discovered Iowa State may have an advantage with the 6-foot-3 Crooks in the post.
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“She was highly motivated,” Fennelly said.
It showed with Crooks leading the Cyclones past a sluggish start with a dominating performance. Crooks connected on 12-of-16 shots from the field and was 5-8 from the free throw line. She had four points in a 15-0 run that put the game out of reach for Southern. Fennelly praised her defense in the win.
But the most impressive part, Fennelly said, was the 33 minutes she logged. The hope was to ease Crooks and teammate Addy Brown into more minutes. Fennelly planned to get them into the 30-minute mark by sometime next week. But with Crooks continually banking in shots, he couldn’t take her out of the game. Besides, Crooks wanted to stay in the game.
“It’s not taking any game for granted,” Crooks said. “And these early games are preparations for the ones where I can’t come out—for the games where I’m expected to play the entire time. So, it’s just getting myself in a place to be stronger physically and mentally to be able to go for a really, really long time.”
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Crooks’ hard work and perseverance paid off in the fourth quarter when she eclipsed the 1,500-point mark for her career. She entered the evening with 1,475 career points. But with the huge performance, Crooks was able to etch her name in school history, passing Stacy Frese for 13th on Iowa State’s all-time leading scoring mark. The news came as a surprise to Crooks, who learned about the honor when the Hilton Coliseum public address announcer informed fans.
More: Iowa State women’s basketball takeaways, Audi Crooks’ work at the free-throw line pays off
“It means a lot,” Crooks said. “I mean, that’s a lot of points. That’s a lot of assists, too, from teammates. So, it means a lot not only to be trusted in that way but to be a Cyclone. Honestly, to be able to do that for this university means a lot to me and I don’t take that for granted.”
Fennelly anticipates more awards and more records to be coming Crooks’ way.
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“We’re probably going to be saying a lot, ‘Audi passed this’ and ‘Audi passed that,’” Fennelly said.
Iowa State Cyclones’ women’s basketball head coach Bill Fennelly reacts from the bench during the third quarter against Southern on Nov. 5, 2025, at Hilton Coliseum, Ames.
Fouls add up for Iowa State women’s basketball
Probably the one area of concern for Iowa State was the number of fouls. The Cyclones were whistled for 25 fouls in the win. The constant fouls allowed Southern to stay in the game early and contributed to the bulk of the scoring for the Jaguars, who went 17-for-25 from the charity stripe.
“I hope the officials weren’t getting paid by the foul because we just would not stop fouling,” Fennelly said. “That was a major problem for us.
“I’ve coached a long time, too long, and I’ve never figured out how to guard the free throw line in all my career….it didn’t hurt us tonight, but we have to be more disciplined. It’s one thing to play really, really hard, but we’ve got to play smarter defensively.”
Iowa State Cyclones’ guard Jada Williams (8) shoots the ball over against Southern during the first quarter on Nov. 5, 2025, at Hilton Coliseum, Ames.
Jada Williams is dealing with an injured foot
Williams had a huge night for Iowa State, scoring 17 points and handing out five assists in the win. The dynamic point guard connected on 8-of-13 shots from the field and was the lone bright spot for Iowa State in a rough first quarter. Fennelly said Williams, who had a foot in a boot last week, is dealing with a minor injury but didn’t seem concerned. Fennelly even joked about the root of the issue.
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“She does have a foot thing that she came to us with,” he said. “It’s a sprain. They’re trying to manage it. I think a lot of it is, she’s trying to figure out which pair of her 2,000 shoes she wants to wear to the game.”
Iowa State Cyclones’ guard/forward Sydney Harris (25) takes a three point shot over Southern Lady Jaguars center Anaja Hall (13) during the second quarter on Nov. 5, 2025, at Hilton Coliseum, Ames.
Iowa State gets well-balanced scoring in win over Southern
Addy Brown didn’t have a huge scoring night, but still found other ways to contribute with 13 rebounds and eight assists. She finished with just six points on 2-for-7 shooting from the field. That would usually be bad news for Iowa State, but the Cyclones got contributions from Crooks, Williams and others. Sydney Harris and Kenzie Hare both scored eight points. Freshman guard Reese Beaty also chipped in with six points.
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Fennelly is hoping to get those types of numbers from his other players.
“Balance isn’t just everyone scoring the same amount,” Fennelly said. “That’s not going to happen on this team. Balance is a lot of people scoring in their lane, which could be four, six, eight points. And you start adding four or five people that are scoring four, six, eight points, that adds up.”
Tommy Birch, the Register’s sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He’s the 2018, 2020 and 2023 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State women’s basketball star Audi Crooks eclipses 1,500 points
