One down, one to go in Coconut Hoops Tournament

The score as the clock hit all zeros was certainly closer than the vast majority of the game would indicate, but the Cyclones will take a double-digit win over a Marquette team picked to finish second in the Big East behind only defending national champion UConn. It was an up and down day for Audi Crooks who didn’t play much of the third (or fourth) quarter after picking up her second and third fouls almost immediately into the second half, and yet she still dominated in her 22 minutes of action, scoring 18 points and securing 6 rebounds. Tying her with a season-high 18 points was Addy Brown who really took over the game with Crooks in foul trouble, scoring 14 in the second half. The third of the Cyclones’ Big 3 in Jada Williams also had arguably her best game of the season, scoring 15 points and also securing 11 rebounds, her second double-double of this short season.

The big struggle for Iowa State came in the form of turnovers. The Cyclones turned it over 17 times while just forcing 13. Thankfully, they were able to limit the points off said turnovers, and even winning in that area 14-13, but it was something that we hadn’t yet seen these Cyclones struggle with to this point in the year. As for where the Cyclones had their big advantage, it was on the glass. This game was dominated on the boards by Iowa State, and it wasn’t just the usual suspects of Crooks and Brown. Jada Williams secured 11 while fellow guard Arianna Jackson brought down 9 of her own as Iowa State outrebounded the Golden Eagles 44-26.

Box Score

Iowa State

Marquette

Those guards will now face their biggest test of the year as the Cyclones will take on the Indiana Hoosiers, who are coming off a 76-72 win over Gonzaga. Shay Ciezki will have Williams’ and Jacksons’ full attention in this one as she lights up the scoreboard with regularity, averaging just over 22 points per game on 53% shooting. Ciezki has the ability both to drive to the bucket and to spot up from deep, shooting 50% on the year from deep this year on 38 attempts through 7 games. Her game against IUC leading the way as she scored 35 on the day, including 7/10 from the perimeter.

As for Indiana as a whole, this is a Hoosier team under head coach Teri Moren that has been to the NCAA Tournament each of the last five years, hosting the first two rounds in four of them, including being a one seed back in 2022-2023. While this year’s Indiana doesn’t have the initial hype of some years past, it will still be an excellent early season test for an Iowa State team that hasn’t had a game within single digits in the fourth quarter yet this year.

The game will tip off at 12:30pm this afternoon on FLO College.