Crooks, Brown chill and watch reserves stomp Northern Illinois, 105-52

AMES — Audi Crooks relaxed on the bench for most of the second half, cheering on her Iowa State teammates. So did Addy Brown ... and both Cyclone stars deserved and enjoyed the rest.

Crooks scored 30 points in 19 minutes and Brown stuffed the stat sheet with 10 points, nine assists, and eight rebounds as No. 10 ISU cruised past Northern Illinois, 105-52, on Sunday before a crowd of 9,538 at Hilton Coliseum.

“I always joke that when those two graduate, Audi needs to give Addy a really big graduation present, because the percentage of assists that Addy Brown has had, probably most of them are going to Addy,” said ISU Coach Bill Fennelly, whose team (10-0) scored 100 points or more for the third time in the past four games. “But that’s who she is a person. She’s that way every day in practice.”

Brown — who notched her first career collegiate triple-double last month — has dished out eight or more assists 11 times in the past 32 games. Crooks scored in double digits for the 77th consecutive game, and topped 20 points for the 16th consecutive game.

But the Cyclones’ reserves took center stage Sunday while Crooks, Brown, and their fellow starters each played 23 minutes or less. Guards Arianna Jackson and Kenzie Hare added nine points apiece — all on 3-pointers — as ISU shot 62 overall from the field and 57 percent from beyond the arc.

Jackson drained all three of her long-distance shots and is now shooting 51.2 percent (21 of 41) from beyond the arc.

“She knows she’s gonna get two to six shots, so you’d better be ready,” Fennelly said. ‘And, obviously, she’s probably our best on-ball defender, so physically we’ve asked her to do a lot.”

Backup forward Alisa Williams added a career-high tying 14 points on 6-for-7 shooting, and backup guard Reagan Wilson drained both of her 3-point attempts while adding five assists with zero turnovers.

“Obviously we work really hard, whether that be in practice, getting extra shots up — we’re always working on our game,” Wilson said. “And I think also, just the confidence aspect: We all put so much confidence in each other, and I think it’s great to see, the amount of cheer everybody has for each other, and (the) excitement when someone hits a shot or someone gets a steal, that’s always incredible to see.”

Next up: Wednesday’s 7 p.m. Cy-Hawk showdown with No. 12 Iowa.

“We know what’s ahead of us and we’re excited for the opportunity,” Fennelly said.

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