Iowa State women's basketball survives scare in Big 12 Tournament opener to beat Baylor
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Iowa State women’s basketball team did not enter the Big 12 Tournament as the favorites, but as the reigning champions.
The Cyclones took the first step toward winning another title by surviving a close call and beating Baylor, the 5-seed, 67-62 in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament at the T-Mobile Center Saturday.
Audi Crooks scored 23 points and grabbed six rebounds for the Cyclones, who improved to 19-10 on the season and advanced to Monday’s semifinals. Addy Brown added 16 points and 12 rebounds for Iowa State.
“That’s what March basketball is supposed to be about,” said Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly. “That’s an NCAA Tournament atmosphere. I’m so proud of our team.”
Saturday’s showdown included 14 lead changes, six ties and one memorable comeback from the Cyclones. Iowa State, which trailed by two going into the fourth quarter, fell into a 61-55 deficit after a 3-pointer by Baylor’s Sarah Andrews.
The Cyclones had been troubled by a full-court defense Baylor implemented midway through the third quarter. It played a huge hand in 22 turnovers that led to 25 Baylor points. Iowa State finally found an answer for the issues during a fourth-quarter timeout when Fennelly urged his players to play through the contact.
“We came together really well after that timeout,” Crooks said. “Just kind of took a breath, settled down, observed the atmosphere and we knew what we needed to do to pick it up on defense and we did that.”
The Cyclones started clicking and getting to the free-throw line. It began with just over three minutes remaining when Emily Ryan sank a pair of free throws. Brown followed with a layup to pull the Cyclones to within two points, 61-59, with 2:08 remaining.
Iowa State rolled from there. The Cyclones closed out the game with an 8-0 run. Ryan, who finished with 12 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds, went 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the final 1:28 to propel the Cyclones to the win.
“I knew she was going to make them because that’s what she does,” Brown said. “She steps up and makes big plays for this team and keeps us calm. That’s our leader, our go-to.”
Baylor missed a game-tying 3-pointer and had another one blocked by Ryan in the final seven seconds. The Bears, who shot just 12.5% (3-for-24) from the field in the fourth quarter, missed their final nine shots of the game.
“It came down to who wanted it more,” Brown said.
Ryan becomes Iowa State's all-time assists leader
Ryan's big performance ended with the senior moving to first in Iowa State's record book for career assists. The point guard needed 10 assists to pass Nikki Moody's mark of 745. Ryan's record-breaking play came on a layup by Crooks with 41 seconds remaining.
After the game, Fennelly was emotional talking about Ryan, who has already announced her plans to take advantage of an extra season of eligibility awarded by the NCAA due to the COVID-19 pandemic and come back next season. Ryan was already a fan favorite when she opted to come back this season when five of her teammates transferred.
"There's no one that I've ever coached that loves her teammates, loves her school and loves her coaches more than her," Fennelly said.
The fans still flocked to Kansas City
One of the biggest storylines around the tournament this year was the change in scheduling. With the Big 12 moving the women’s tournament from Municipal Auditorium to the T-Mobile Center, it no longer overlapped with the men’s tournament. No fan base may have benefitted from the two tournaments being played at the same time more than Iowa State's.
Even with the new setup, Cyclone fans still overtook the T-Mobile Center by heavily outnumbering Baylor supporters and essentially turning it into an Iowa State home game. The takeover began Friday night. Crooks and her teammates, who were on hand for games that evening, noticed Iowa State fans already outnumbered the supporters of the teams playing.
"It's ridiculous how many people were here," Fennelly said. "Without them, we're not winning the game."
What’s next? Iowa State gets a day off. And then...
Iowa State has some time off but advances to Monday’s semifinals where they'll take on Oklahoma. The Sooners, coached by former Dowling High School and Iowa Hawkeye standout and ex-Drake coach Jennie Baranczyk, beat the Cyclones in their lone meeting on Feb. 10 at Hilton Coliseum.
The team has several other familiar faces. Guard Aubrey Joens began her collegiate career at Iowa State before transferring to Oklahoma. Her sister Kelsey Joens plays for the Cyclones. Forward Sahara Williams was a heavily sought-after recruit while at Waterloo West High School.
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 beats Baylor, advances in Big 12 Tournament
