No. 16 Iowa State hopes to stay hot Sunday against Norfolk State

AMES — Audi Crooks broke Iowa State’s single-game scoring record with 43 points in the No. 16 Cyclones’ blowout win Wednesday over Valparaiso.

So what does the preseason Big 12 player of the year do for an encore?

Continue to improve her all-around game — in ISU’s (4-0) matchup with Norfolk State (2-2) at 1 p.m. Sunday at Hilton Coliseum and beyond.

“It’s just really a tribute to everybody on this team and everybody on the staff, as well,” Crooks said of her ongoing success.

Crooks has scored 20 or more points in 10 straight games stretching back to last season. She’s shooting an eye-popping 70.6 percent from the field in that relatively lengthy span, and is averaging a career-high 23 assists and career-low one turnover this season.

So while that number 43 made history, virtually all of Crooks’ long-term production trends are spiraling skyward.

“There have been a lot of really good players here that have played at Iowa State,” said ISU head coach Bill Fennelly, who’s in his 31st season of leading the Cyclones. “To say that you have the school record is pretty impressive.”

Crooks and Addy Brown have been a dynamic duo for the Cyclones since they concurrently joined the program in 2023 — and now they’ve added charismatic and athletic transfer point guard Jada Williams to the mix. The former Arizona Wildcat from Kansas City gives ISU an extra gear on both ends of the floor, and she dished out a career-high 10 assists — many of them to Crooks — in Wednesday’s record-breaking win.

“Before, I was nervous about how the leadership role was gonna go, just because Audi and Addy are two dominant people, and they’re very strong local leaders,” Williams said. “Now that I’ve been here for a while, we all click with each other, and something that sticks out to me is how much we love each other, and this has nothing to do with basketball.”

On-court chemistry is one thing. Maintaining that bond each moment they’re not in the Sukup Basketball Complex, or on the Hilton Coliseum floor is another. But one of the reasons this ISU team’s ceiling may be higher than it has been in recent seasons is that deep connection that spans more than 40 minutes of a single game. It supersedes any records Crooks or anyone else may produce. It’s organic, not manufactured — and it will be tested as the competition gets tougher.

“It’s great now,” Fennelly said. “We haven’t lost yet. That’s all coming, but that’s all part of it too.

Comments: robgray18@icloud.com