IOWA CITY – For nearly two decades, Carver-Hawkeye Arena has given the Iowa State women’s basketball team plenty of problems.
The Cyclones, who entered Wednesday’s matchup with the Hawkeyes having lost the last eight showdowns in Iowa City, hadn’t picked up a win on Iowa’s home turf in nearly 20 years.
Iowa State still hasn’t figured out how to win there.
Audi Crooks scored 31 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough as the 17th-ranked Cyclones suffered a 75-69 loss to No. 24 Iowa. Iowa State (8-3) has now lost three straight games in the series and nine in a row in Iowa City.
The Cyclones’ last win at Carver-Hawkeye Arena came in 2006. The drought now continues after a slew of problems plagued Iowa State all night Wednesday. The Cyclones turned it over at a high rate, struggled to shoot it from the free throw line and were without star Addy Brown, who posted 13 points, for most of the game as she battled foul issues.
Iowa State suffered a huge loss before the game even started as the Cyclones announced that starting guard Kenzie Hare would miss the remainder of the season due to an ongoing hip injury.
Hare, a strong shooting guard, transferred from Marquette and was averaging 8.3 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 10 contests including eight starts in her first season for Iowa State.
Still, the Cyclones were able to build up a three-point lead at halftime thanks to a late 3-pointer by Kelsey Joens. The Cyclones even led 56-53 heading into the fourth quarter.
But that’s when things began to fall apart for Iowa State.
Iowa, which stayed within striking distance the whole night, went on a 9-0 run to take control of the game. A layup by Hannah Stuelke gave the Hawkeyes a 62-61 lead with 4:24 remaining.
A layup by Brown, who missed most of the third quarter after picking up her third foul before halftime, pulled Iowa State to within 67-63. But by then, the damage was done.
Many of Iowa State’s issues were self-inflicted. The Cyclones shot just 6-for-16 from the free throw line and turned it over 21 times.
The problems were so prevalent that Iowa fans began chanting “Hawkeye state” with 30.3 seconds left.
