Alisa Williams shines off the bench as No. 14 Iowa State women rout Sacred Heart

AMES — Call it a portend. Or merely a coincidence.

Either way, it proved to be fortuitous that Iowa State backup post player Alisa Williams appeared on the scorecard cover for Sunday’s matinee against Sacred Heart.

The 6-foot-2 junior from Denton, Texas, has fully earned marquee status, even as she strictly serves in a supporting role for the No. 14 Cyclones, who dismantled the Pioneers, 99-34, before a crowd of 8,977 at Hilton Coliseum.

“Every time I go out there I bring something positive,” said Williams, who scored a career-high 14 points and matched a career high with eight rebounds in relief of star center Audi Crooks. “It doesn’t matter if I get five minutes, whether I get 10 minutes — bring something positive because it contributes to the team.”

Crooks led ISU (3-0) with 21 points on 9-for-13 shooting. Backup point guard Reese Beaty scored a career-high 13 points, standout guard/forward Addy Brown chipped in 12, and the team’s third post player, Lilly Taulelei, added 10.

Brown — who shot 4-for-5 from the field and also grabbed nine rebounds in limited duty — said the Cyclones held a mini celebration because all three post players scored in double figures.

“We work hard in practice, so it was just fun to celebrate each other,” Brown said.

ISU held Sacred Heart to three points in the second quarter and 2-for-16 shooting from the 3-point line overall. The Cyclones shot a torrid 63.8 percent from the field (19 of 30) and 61.5 percent from beyond the arc (9-for-13) while building a commanding 54-17 halftime lead. ISU also won the fourth quarter, 21-10, and Williams and Taulelei combined for 18 of those 21 points.

“There’s two people (Williams and Taulelei) that I cannot tell you how much respect I have for those two guys,” head coach Bill Fennelly said. “You’re playing behind arguably one of the best post players in the country, you show up, you do your job, and I always tell them the basketball gods reward effort and team commitment, and I thought today (they) were great. It was fun to see.”

Williams also brings national championship experience to the Cyclones. She played sparingly as a freshman for LSU when it won the NCAA title in 2023 before choosing to transfer to Fennelly’s program.

"I see similarities like a team that comes in wanting to be with each other every day (and) who wants to get better and knows that we have that potential,” Williams said. “Everyone’s locked in. It doesn’t take only five, it takes the entire team to get to that point.”

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