AMES, Iowa — Audi Crooks had 30 points and 10 rebounds, Addy Brown had 20 points and 12 boards, and No. 10 Iowa State held off No. 11 Iowa’s comeback bid for a 74-69 victory Wednesday night.
The Cyclones (11-0) led by 17 points late in the third quarter before Iowa went on a 26-12 run to make it a three-point game late in the second half.
The Hawkeyes had a chance to tie it, but Mackenzie Hare blocked Taylor McCabe’s 3-point attempt with 16 seconds left.
Crooks then made a free throw to make it 73-69 and secure her fourth 30-point game of the season.
“I feel like now we’re officially battle-tested,” Crooks said, according to ESPN.com. “You know, people were commenting on our schedule and now there’s not much else to say. When you have three players with double-doubles, you can’t say we’re a one-trick pony. You can’t say our schedule is soft.
“But, honestly, we’re not concerned with the noise and what everybody has to say online. We’re worried about the mentality in our locker room [and] that we have in practice. I feel that comes with maturity. It’s really easy to get sucked into social media and public opinion. … This team, we’re all a little bit older and a little bit wiser.”
Chazadi “Chit-Chat” Wright made four 3s and finished with 21 points for the Hawkeyes (9-1).
McCabe hit three 3s and had 11 points, and Kylie Feuerbach and Hannah Stuelke added 10 apiece.
Iowa had no answer for Crooks, who was nearly unstoppable when she caught entry passes into the post. Many of those came from Jada Williams, who had a career-high 12 assists to go with 11 points and five rebounds.
Crooks scored in double figures for the 78th straight game, the longest active streak in the country.
The Hawkeyes’ Ava Heiden, who came in averaging a team-best 16.1 points, was assigned to Crooks and was limited to 16 minutes because of foul trouble.
She made back-to-back layups to get Iowa close before she fouled out, and after Feuerbach hit two free throws, it was 65-62 with four minutes to play.
Iowa State has won 12 of 15 in the CyHawk Series, but the Hawkeyes lead the series 32-24.
