No. 10 Iowa State beats No. 11 Iowa, 74-69, to end three-game Cy-Hawk skid

AMES — As Iowa’s Taylor McCabe collected the pass at the top of the key, three words echoed in Iowa State guard Kenzie Hare’s mind: “Get a stop.”

Just 16 seconds remained when McCabe sized up a potential game-tying 3-pointer in Wednesday’s tension-filled matchup between the No. 10 Cyclones and the 11th-ranked Hawkeyes.

McCabe set herself, squared up, and Hare carefully, but forcefully swatted the shot away. Moments later, ISU star center Audi Crooks essentially iced the game with a single free throw, and the Cyclones (11-0) held on to beat Iowa, 74-69, before a boisterous crowd of 14,009 at Hilton Coliseum.

“My job was just to not let her get it off and not to foul,” Hare said. “So I just tried to get as close as I (could), and I ended up getting a block.”

Addy Brown grabbed the rebound. Crooks got fouled. And even though ISU’s free throw shooting was a bit of rollercoaster ride, a signature win emerged behind Crooks’ 30-point performance, and Brown’s 20-point effort.

There Cyclones — Crooks, Brown and point guard Jada Williams — recorded double-doubles as the Hawkeyes’ three-game win streak in the series was snapped.

“(That) just makes us harder to guard,” said Brown, who added 12 rebounds and five assists. “That’s kind of the piece that we were missing last year, and I think some teams were still able to beat us even when the two of us (Brown and Crooks) had a good night. “Jada’s been able to do a lot of good things for us, and everybody, too, the whole team, just stepping up when we need them to. Our depth is a lot better this year.”

ISU outscored Iowa (9-1) by 13 points in the third quarter and led by as many at 17 points. But the Hawkeyes used a 10-0 run early in the fourth quarter to inch back into contention. Iowa guard Chazadi Wright scored a career-high 21 points and drilled two of her four 3-pointers in the final 10 minutes.

“The 3s they hit — and they only hit nine — but the ones they hit were big ones,” said Cyclones head coach Bill Fennelly, whose team is 11-0 for the first time since the 2013-14 team won a program-record 14 straight games to the start the season. “Really big ones. And you’ve gotta give them credit for that.”

Fennelly told his team before Wednesday’s game that anything they did well would likely translate to any other team on its remaining regular season schedule. The same held true in terms of its exposed weaknesses.

So about going 9-for-20 from the free-throw line …

“We’ve got to work on our free throws, obviously,” said Brown, who went an uncharacteristic 4-for-9 from the line on Wednesday. “And we will do that, I promise.”

Crooks’ important trip to the line after Hare’s big block turned into a poignant moment. Fennelly pointed to her, then pointed up toward the sky.

But why?

“This game was really important to me and my family — specifically my dad,” said Crooks, whose father, Jimmie, passed away in 2021. “My dad and I would always watch this one together. And coach (Fennelly’s) dad (William) passed (six) years ago right (around) this game … He said, ‘He’s watching,’ and I just couldn’t hold it in, and I missed the first one, so I couldn’t see. But, yeah, that was a special moment (we) shared.”

The second one, of course, did go in, and coupled with Hare’s timely block, helped prove that ISU is a legitimate Big 12 title contender, as well as a team that could forge a deep run later in March.

“Really excited that we were able to prevail in this game,” Crooks said. “It was a battle. They did their thing, we did our thing. But at the end of the day, we came out victorious.”

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