Iowa State enters the NCAA Tournament as an 8-seed, but when stars Audi Crooks and Jada Williams are healthy alongside Addy Brown and Arianna Jackson, the Cyclones are a 16-4 team capable of a deep run.
The Iowa State Cyclones women’s basketball team has been a puzzle all season—a team that looks like a national contender on paper but has struggled to put it together consistently. They started with a 14-game winning streak, beating rivals like Iowa and ranked opponents in Indiana, Marquette, and Kansas. Then they lost five straight, sparking doubts about Audi Crooks’s National Player of the Year chances and whether they’d even make the tournament. A brief rebound with seven wins in eight games was followed by three losses in four to close the regular season.
Now, as an 8-seed facing 9-seed Syracuse in the first round, Crooks and Williams believe the narrative is wrong. “Our record doesn’t necessarily reflect the talent that we have,” Crooks told USA TODAY. “I think when we’re on, we’re a really dangerous team.”
The key to that danger is health. When Addy Brown and Arianna Jackson both play, Iowa State is 16-4, with three losses by single digits USA TODAY. Those two starters missed significant time—Brown with a lower-body injury in early January that kept her out over a month, and Jackson with a knee injury that sidelined her two weeks. The Cyclones’ five-game losing streak coincided with their absence, as defenses could focus solely on Crooks and Williams.
Crooks, a 6-foot-3 junior center, is arguably the nation’s most dominant scorer. She averages 25.5 points per game (second nationally) on a blistering 64.7% field goal percentage (also second), and leads the country in 2-pointers made per game (10.1) USA TODAY. She’s scored in double digits in 97 straight career games—the longest active streak in the nation—and became the fastest Big 12 player to reach 2,000 points.
Williams, a transfer from Arizona, has emerged as a premier playmaker. She averages 7.7 assists per game, ranking third nationally, and is shooting a career-best 41.8% from the floor USA TODAY. “The game looks totally different for me,” Williams said. “Everyone believes in me. I think I’m just playing a different role.”
Their synergy extends off the court. Both Crooks and Williams are faces of T-Mobile’s “Better Together” NIL campaign, a message about unity that mirrors their on-court need for a full roster. “The message is really based on how being together makes things a lot better,” Crooks said.
During the injury stretch, both stars adapted. Crooks focused more on rebounding, blocking, and facilitating. Williams saw her assist numbers boom. When Brown—a 6-foot-2 forward who averages 12.3 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 5.2 assists—returned, she provided a rare two-way threat. “It just makes the game totally different when she’s in,” Williams said of Brown. “Her overall energy is something that we love having out there.”
Now, with no players on the injury report heading into the tournament, Iowa State can finally field its complete rotation. That changes everything. An 8-seed with a top-10 offense when healthy is a nightmare matchup for anyone. The Cyclones have the post scoring of Crooks, the perimeter creation of Williams, the versatility of Brown, and the two-way reliability of Jackson.
Fan circles have debated the seeding—many feel Iowa State is underrated given its résumé when whole. The “what-if” scenarios are valid: if Brown and Jackson had been healthy all year, would the Cyclones have been a top-4 seed? Possibly. But the selection committee’s decision might backfire on them. A streaky team that can beat UConn one night and lose to a mid-tier Big 12 opponent the next is exactly the kind of volatile 8-seed that can ignite a March run.
The first-round matchup against Syracuse is winnable, but the real test is whether Iowa State can sustain its best version for four games straight. The talent is there; the chemistry is there; the health is finally there. As Crooks put it, “when we’re on, we’re a really dangerous team.” In March, being “on” for even a weekend can rewrite a season’s story.
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