Jada Williams' career day helps No. 10 Iowa State beat Houston, 80-62, on the road

All five of Jada Williams’ double-digit assists efforts have come in her first 14 games with Iowa State.

But the best may be yet to come.

The swift and skilled former Arizona transfer dished out a career-high 14 assists in the No. 10 Cyclones’ 80-62 win on Wednesday afternoon at Houston. Oh, and Williams also scored 16 points to help ISU (14-0, 2-0 Big 12) match the best start in program history.

“I think it’s just a balance I’ve found as a point guard,” Williams said on the Cyclone Radio Network after the win. “When I need to score, I score, and when I need to pass, I pass.”

The Cyclones needed the 5-8 catalyst from Kansas City to score early on Wednesday, as they fell behind 14-7 against the struggling Cougars (6-7).

But Williams didn’t need to score late, as several of her well-placed passes led to star center Audi Crooks’ 35-point day. Crooks — who notched her fifth consecutive 30-plus point game — also grabbed 13 rebounds to record her 22nd career double-double.

“Obviously, it was not our best overall performance in a lot of ways,” said ISU head coach Bill Fennelly, whose 2013-14 team also started the season 14-0. “We had Audi Crooks and they didn’t, and it’s not just the 35 points that (she) got. Every open 3(-pointer) we got was because they were running to guard Audi. And (Arianna Jackson, Sydney Harris and Kenzie Hare) hit some big ones.”

The Cyclones drilled seven of their first 11 3-point attempts to help build a 45-31 halftime lead. Jackson finished 3-for-5 from beyond the arc and Harris went 2-for-3 from long distance. Hare’s lone 3-pointer gave ISU a 22-18 lead early in the second quarter and helped her team shake off an extremely sluggish start.

“There (are) a lot of things we have to clean up, but that’s all part of it,” Fennelly said. “And I don’t care who you play in this league, you go on the road and win by 18 points, that’s a good thing.”

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