AMES – Heading into its postseason, Iowa State will face Arizona State in Kansas City, Missouri, to mark the Cyclones’ first game in the 2025 Phillips 66 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Championship.

Entering at the No. 7 seed with a 12-6 conference record and a 21-10 overall record, the Cyclones will face the Sun Devils in the second round of the Big 12 Women’s Basketball Championship. 

In the first round, Arizona State took down Cincinnati 82-75, as the Sun Devils offense shined bright with four players ending the night in double digits. Leading the offense was junior guard Jalyn Brown, who had a team high of 27 points, followed by graduate senior guard Tyi Skinner, who ended with 26 points.

Arizona State averages 69 points per game, coming from its 40% success rate in the field, the team’s 34% from behind the arc and its 76% completion rate from behind the charity stripe.

Similar to the Sun Devils celebrating their recent success, Iowa State ended its regular season with a dominating win against then-No. 14 Kansas State. Leaving Hilton Coliseum on the right note with an 85-62 win against their first-ranked opponent and one senior night, the Cyclones are flying high on their way to Kansas City as this game was a turning point for the team.

“I think this is the latest one that has us on the rise right now,” junior guard/forward Sydney Harris said. “With some good wins under our belt going into the Big 12 [Tournament].”

“Coming off a couple pretty big wins for us and ending our regular season well, that definitely helps us get a little boost of confidence,” sophomore center Audi Crooks said. “I feel like the last few games, we put a really good product out there on the court.”

Leading the Cyclones to their victory was Crooks, who had a double-double consisting of a new season-high of 36 points and 10 rebounds. Following Crooks was the lone senior guard, Emily Ryan, who put up 17 points and 10 assists.

Despite the strong leadership from the five starters, the Cyclones believe that the Kansas State game was a turning point because it showed the depth of the team, as Iowa State had 11 bench points. A majority of the points came from Harris, who had eight points and three rebounds.

“I think the Kansas [State] game was a great show of multiple scorers,” Harris said. “People are going to start guarding Audi differently, guarding Addy [Brown] differently, guarding [Ryan], so we have to have people on our bench ready to produce and help keep that going when they have their best defenders on them.”

“There is no question who the starting five is, that’s not going to change,” Iowa State head coach Bill Fennelly said. “[Harris] is number one off the bench, so there’s your six.”

Using its newfound confidence and building off its winning momentum, Iowa State is excited going into Big 12 Tournament play and hopes not to be overlooked as they have too much to offer.

“I don’t think they should overlook us because of what we just did to Kansas State,” Crooks said. “I’m just going to leave it at that.”

Iowa State will take on Arizona State in the second round of the Big 12 Championship at 5:30 p.m. Thursday from the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri.