Redshirt junior Kenzie Hare delivered in her first career Big 12 game, sinking a game-winning three-pointer as time expired Sunday to give No. 10 Iowa State a 79-76 victory over Kansas in the conference opener for both schools.
The Cyclones have now won four of their last five Big 12 openers, extending their Hilton Coliseum winning streak to 16 games and recording their 18th win in the last 20 matchups against the Jayhawks.
Audi Crooks led the way with a game-high 41 points, tying Lindsey Wilson for the most points scored by a Cyclone in a regular-season Big 12 game. It marked her fourth consecutive 30-point game, making her just the fifth player in the last 15 years in women’s college basketball to achieve the feat. She joined Ashley Joens (2020) as the only Cyclones to do so.
Crooks was joined in double figures by Addy Brown (16 points) and Jada Williams (11 points), with Williams also recording 10 assists for her fourth points-assists double-double of the season. S’Mya Nichols led Kansas with 29 points.
Kansas kept the game tight early, opening with a 12-6 run after ISU tied it 2-2 and leading 20-14 after the first quarter. Crooks scored 10 of Iowa State’s first 14 points, extending her active double-figure streak to 79 games, the longest in the nation.
Iowa State surged in the second quarter with a 10-1 run to take their first lead, but the Jayhawks responded with an 8-0 run, holding a slim 34-32 halftime advantage. The Cyclones caught fire in the third, hitting seven consecutive shots and finishing the quarter shooting 77 percent to lead 59-55, with Crooks up to 31 points.
The Cyclones hit their first three-pointer at 9:25 in the fourth quarter when Williams connected from the top of the key, giving Iowa State a 62-55 lead. They extended it to 70-59 with 6:54 to play, only for Kansas to answer with a 10-0 run, cutting it to 70-69 with 3:16 remaining.
The final minutes were a showdown between Crooks and Nichols, who scored all points for their teams until Hare’s game-winner. Nichols hit a jumper with five seconds left to tie the game, prompting an Iowa State timeout. Brown drove to the top of the key and passed to Hare in the corner for the decisive shot.
While Hare hit the dramatic winner, it was all Crooks all day. Her 41 points also pushed her past 1,800 career points, moving her from eighth to sixth in program history, surpassing Cyclone legends Jayme Olson (1,799) and Tonya Burns (1,789) on the all-time scoring list.
