AMES – As the Iowa State women’s basketball team has gotten further into the non-conference portion of its schedule, things were expected to get a little tougher.
But four games into the season, no one has really been able to truly test the No. 8 Cyclones.
Iowa State led from start to finish and improved to 4-0 on the season by picking up an 80-47 win over previously unbeaten St. Thomas at Hilton Coliseum on Thursday night.
Cyclones post player Audi Crooks poured in a game-high 26 points on 12-for-17 shooting from the field. She also grabbed eight rebounds. Addy Brown chipped in with 10 points, three rebounds and three assists.
The two stars helped the Cyclones jump out to an early lead they would never relinquish. An early 11-2 Iowa State run was capped off by a 3-pointer by Kenzie Hare. Crooks and Brown both had four points in the run.
Iowa State extended the lead to 20-4 with a 9-0 run that ended with a layup by Sydney Harris. A 6-0 run by Iowa State in the second quarter gave the Cyclones a 29-16 lead.
Crooks connected on a pair of layups late in the second quarter to give Iowa State a 40-22 lead at halftime. She helped carry the Cyclones through a strong start to the second half as well.
Crooks, who had four quick points in the third quarter, jumpstarted a 10-0 run that gave the Cyclones a 50-24 lead. By then, another rout was on for Iowa State.
Harris finished with 13 points off the bench for the Cyclones.
Iowa State was without freshman guard Reagan Wilson, who is out indefinitely with a lower leg injury, according to an Iowa State spokesperson. Wilson averaged 11.7 minutes in the Cyclones’ first three games.
The competition gets tougher for Iowa State, which has back-to-back games against in-state opponents coming up. Iowa State travels to Northern Iowa on Nov. 20 and then hosts Drake on Nov. 24.
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
