Audi Crooks expects Iowa State women’s basketball team to hit the right notes in highly-anticipated season

AMES — Audi Crooks confidently gripped the guitar, positioned her fingers on the neck, and strummed the strings melodiously.

A video of this musical interlude for Iowa State’s star sophomore center exists on longtime Cyclones assistant coach Jodi Steyer’s phone. It played out last summer in Italy, before Crooks had logged a single minute — let alone her eight double-doubles — while helping ISU’s youthful team advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season.

Steyer asked Crooks how long she’d been taking lessons. The answer surprised her.

“She was (like), ‘No, I taught myself,’” Steyer recalled during Tuesday’s women’s basketball media day interviews at Hilton Coliseum. “And I thought she was gonna say five or six years ago, but she said five or six months ago. She puts her mind to something and she’s extremely talented in everything she does.”

The 6-3 Crooks — one of four unanimous first-team All-Big 12 selections last season — brings that creativity and curiosity to the court. And she’s not alone. Crooks is one of four returning sophomores who stayed in tune during last season’s surprising surge, and as long as fifth-year senior point guard Emily Ryan’s serving as the group’s conductor, the Cyclones will continue to hit high notes throughout a 2024-25 season brimming with big expectations.

“I think, obviously, we want to go back to the Big 12 Tournament and finish it off this year,” said Crooks, who averaged 19.2 points and 7.8 rebounds last season. “We came up short last year, so I think that’s definitely a team goal, (and) we want to make the ‘Big Dance’ and make a good run.”

All the pieces are in place to keep those lofty expectations within reach. Fellow sophomore forward Addy Brown became the first ISU player to record 400 points, 250 rebounds and 150 assists in a single season. Skilled perimeter shooters dot the roster, including Marquette transfer guard Kenzie Hare, who shot 42.5 percent from 3-point range last season. Add in returning guards Arianna Jackson and Kelsey Joens, along with other high-level transfers and incoming freshmen, and the Cyclones’ veteran head coach, Bill Fennelly, will have a difficult time divvying up minutes.

“This is the first year I’ve been at Iowa State — and I’ve been here a couple of years — (that) we have 12 players and every single one of them I could tell you I could put in a game tonight,” Fennelly said.

One area for improvement Crooks and Brown identified is defense. The Cyclones allowed a Big 12-high 69.1 points per game last season and whittling that number down will be important as the team’s goals spiral upward.

“Our coaches didn’t give us much of an option, to be honest with you,” Brown said of shoring up the defensive end. “I’m going to put it bluntly, but, I mean, we push each other every day in practice and a lot of it is just communication.”

So ISU will try to avoid discordant notes, while Ryan sets the tempo.

“Last year, nobody expected us to do much of anything, let alone take the No. 2 nationally ranked team (Stanford) to overtime and almost win,” Crooks said. “It was just a great experience overall, and a lot to learn from.”

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