Preview: Iowa WBB vs. Iowa State
WHO: Iowa State Cyclones (4-3)
WHEN: 6:00 PM CT (Wednesday, December 6)
WHERE: Hilton Coliseum (Ames, Iowa)
TV: ESPN2
RADIO: Hawkeye Radio Network
ONLINE: https://www.espn.com/watch/
MOBILE: https://www.espn.com/watch/
FOLLOW: @IowaAwesome | @IowaWBB | @IowaonBTN
Iowa State has been very good over the last five seasons. In 2022, the Cyclones were a 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament and made the Sweet Sixteen. In 2019 and 2021, they made the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Last year, they won the Big 12 Tournament, though they were upset as a 5 seed in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Unfortunately for head coach Bill Fennelly, this year's team is unlikely to match the success of the recent past. The Cyclones sit at 4-3 overall with double-digit losses to Drake, Vanderbilt, and Syracuse, none of whom are ranked.
Iowa State's wins have all been by big margins, but they've come over Butler, Southern, St. Thomas, and UNC Wilmington -- not exactly a murderer's row of quality opposition.
There are several reasons behind Iowa State's downturn this season. Ashley Joens was maybe the best player in program history, but finally exhausted her eligibility and moved on to the WNBA. Transfer post Stephanie Soares also left for the WNBA Draft and ended up being the #4 overall pick.
Lexi Donarski and Denae Fritz were both starters that opted to enter the transfer portal instead of continuing with the Cyclones. They ended up at North Carolina and Baylor, respectively.
Finally Emily Ryan, the team's starting point guard over the past three seasons, was set to return, but has missed the entire season thus far with injury.
The result is a young and inexperienced team that isn't in a place to consistently win against top teams just yet.
All stats for this preview come from HerHoopStats.
Top Players
Rarely does a team's leading scorer only rank seventh on the team in minutes per game, but that's the case with Iowa State right now.
Audi Crooks is a 6'3" freshman post averaging 16.0 ppg, 5.1 rpg, and shooting 66.7% from the floor. While Crooks is an incredible offensive talent, she does have notable flaws. She's not great at running the floor, and doesn't offer much on the defensive end. She also has trouble staying on the floor. Thus far, Crooks is averaging 20.2 minutes per game, which is far less than you'd like from your best offensive player.
Fans of recruiting will remember that Crooks was a major target for Iowa in its 2023 class. Crooks is already showing signs of having a Monika Czinano-like impact for Iowa State's offense. If she continues to develop and can get up to playing 30 minutes per game, she could be a problem for years to come.
Addy Brown is a 6'2" freshman forward averaging 14.3 ppg, 6.9 rpg, and 5.4 apg, though she is also averaging 4.1 turnovers per game. She is shooting 65.9% on 2-point tries and 41.4% from 3-point range. Like Crooks, Brown is a very impressive freshman. She can score inside the arc and from outside, and impacts the game in many different ways. She also isn't the best defender at this point in her career.
Nyamer Diew is a 6'2" senior forward averaging 10.7 ppg and 5.1 rpg. She shoots 51.4% on 2-point attempts and 30.0% on 3-point tries. Diew is one of the few holdovers from last year's Iowa State team and offers a needed veteran presence to counterbalance the impressive freshman class.
Play Style
Last year, Iowa State was in the 76th percentile for pace at 72.2 possessions per 40 minutes. They're on a similar track this year, averaging 72.4 possessions per 40.
Offensively, the Cyclones excel at sharing the basketball. Their 21.6 assists per game rank 6th nationally. Thanks in large part to Crooks and Brown, they are also very good at shooting inside the arc -- their 55.3% mark on 2-point field goals ranks 15th nationally. Their three-point shooting isn't quite as good at 34.9%, which ranks 65th. As a whole, the Cyclone offense averages 75.0 points per game, which ranks 62nd.
Defensively, the Cyclones have clear holes. They allow 64.4 points per game, which ranks 161st nationally, and that's without having played a ranked opponent. Against Drake, Syracuse, and Vanderbilt they surrendered an average of 78 points per game.
A big reason for the relatively poor defense is an inability to force turnovers. The Cyclones are generating just 4.1 steals per game, which ranks 357th. Iowa isn't particularly great in the steals department nationally, yet is averaging 7.8 steals per game.
Few steals means plenty of field goal attempts, and that's bad news for the Cyclones against an Iowa team than ranks 2nd nationally in field goal percentage.
X-Factor
Contain Crooks. In Iowa's loss to Kansas State, center Ayoka Lee scored 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting. She was one of the few players on either team that had a good shooting night. Crooks is capable of having that kind of shooting night if Iowa can't find an answer for her.
If Crooks can dominate and Iowa has a bad shooting night again, the Cyclones could give Iowa plenty of problems, especially in front of a sold out Hilton Coliseum crowd.