AMES — No. 18 Iowa State bounced back at home with a resounding 87-55 win against Eastern Illinois Sunday. Sophomore center Audi Crooks and sophomore forward Addy Brown combined for 50 points. 

The Cyclones improved to 9-3 on the season with one game remaining before conference play. The 32-point win also gives the Cyclones an undefeated record at home in non-conference play.

In the first half, the Cyclones did not shoot well compared to season averages. They shot 40% from the field and a tough 28% from beyond the arc. Crooks was the most efficient Cyclone in the half, shooting 5-for-8 from the field and 4-for-4 from the free throw line, giving herself 14 points at the break. The Cyclones held a 38-29 lead at halftime.

The second half was much better for Iowa State, which went on a 13-point scoring run in the fourth quarter to seal the win. Outside of freshman guard Aili Tanke hitting a 3-pointer, Crooks and Brown were the only two Cyclones to score in the third quarter. Iowa State pulled ahead in the fourth quarter to secure the 87-55 win.

Free throw shooting improves

After a tough game against Iowa, where the Cyclones shot 6-for-16 from the free-throw line, they stepped up and shot nearly 90% against Eastern Illinois. 

Crooks was the biggest contributor at the charity stripe, knocking down all six of her attempts, helping her reach 30 points for the second game in a row. She was 3-for-10 from there against the Hawkeyes.

“That was probably for me, besides winning the game, the highlight of the game to see her make those six,” head coach Bill Fennelly said. “She works really hard at it. She has, you know, all offseason her and [associate head] coach [Jodi] Steyer spend a lot of quality time together shooting free throws.”

Brown hit both of her attempts from the free throw line, and three other players were 2-for-2 as well to help Iowa State shoot 14-of-16 overall. The two misses came from sophomore center Lilly Taulelei. 

“Going back to the fundamentals and just taking care of it,” Brown said. “This next game is going to be really important against a good defensive team.”

Second half scoring

Iowa State shot 40% from the field in the first half, slightly lower than the season average of 45%, but the scoring felt like it was much lower than that. Holding only a nine-point lead at the break with the Panthers hanging in there, a strong second half was needed.

“I think we were kind of sloppy in the first half,” Brown said. “The score kind of showed that it was still a game at the time.”

Fennelly must have given a good halftime speech, because the Cyclones came out firing on all areas of the floor. Crooks and Brown both shot 4-for-5 in the quarter, and Tanke knocked down a timely triple to give them a 13-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. 

A lot of the points in the second half came from layups inside by Crooks, who scored 16 of her 30 in the second half.

“If you can run the ball and score touchdowns, run the ball, why do we have to throw it? Just run the same stuff,” Fennelly said. “We literally ran the same play eight times in a row. It’s okay.”

Fennelly said that play is called ‘Boomerang’, and they kept feeding Crooks and Brown on it, fueling high scoring nights for both of them.

The Cyclones shot 67% from the field and 70% from deep in the second half, blowing their first half scoring out of the water. Iowa State outscored the Panthers 49-26 in the half.

“Really proud of our effort in the second half,” Fennelly said. “Kind of the perfect storm.”

Crooks opens up the three-point scoring

With 16 shot attempts for Crooks and 12 makes, it is hard for the defense not to key in on her and send double teams. When those doubles come, Crooks can send the ball out to a shooter on the perimeter, and it makes it really hard to defend.

Sophomore guard Arianna Jackson went 2-for-5 from 3-point land, and Iowa State went 7-of-10 overall in the second half.

“I think at first we were a little shot happy,” Jackson said. “Just focusing on the inside presence, and then just knowing that your shot’s gonna come back to you I think is what we really tried to focus on in the second half.”

Crooks had three assists in the win, and it is a testament to her trusting her teammates on the outside when a double team or tougher defense gets in her way.

“You have to make the other team pay every once in a while,” Fennelly said. “If they know they can just pack it in on her all night and it’s gonna be hard.”

The Panthers brought the gap within eight points in the third quarter, but a timely three from Brown extended it back to 11. 

“We’re like, alright, it’s eight. If it gets to, you know, six, five or four, now you panic,” Fennelly said. “Now it’s back to 11, and everyones like, okay, we’re okay.”

With one last game before Big 12 play, the Cyclones head to Uncasville, Connecticut, to take on No. 2 UConn with a short turnaround. The game is technically a neutral site matchup, but a quick 40-minute car ride is all that lies between the University of Connecticut and Uncasville.

The Cyclones take on the Huskies at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Mohegan Sun Arena, the home of the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun. The game will be televised on FS1.