Who: Iowa State (14-7, 5-3 Big 12) vs. UCF (7-10, 0-7 Big 12)
Where: Hilton Coliseum – Ames, Iowa
When: Saturday, January 25, 2025 – 4:00 p.m. CT
The Links
WATCH: ESPN+
PxP: BJ Schaben Analyst: Molly Parrott
LISTEN: Cyclone Radio Network – Varsity App or Radio Affiliates
PxP: Noah Wolf Analyst: Jamie Steyer Johnson
LIVE STATS
IOWA STATE GAME NOTES
MEDIA CENTER
Iowa State enters Saturday’s contest with UCF following an 82-59 victory over BYU on Wednesday night. The Cyclones have won four of their last five and are 11-1 in Hilton Coliseum this season.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Overall: UCF leads 1-0
In Ames: First meeting
Fennelly vs. UCF: 0-1
SERIES NOTE
The Cyclones will face the Knights twice this season during Big 12 play, one of three home-and-away opponents on the 2024-25 schedule.
FOUR THINGS
2 – Iowa State had two players named to the Naismith Trophy Women’s College Player of the Year Watch list earlier this season. Audi Crooks and Emily Ryan were two of 50 women’s collegiate basketball players selected to the watch list. It is the second time Ryan has been featured on the top 50 list and the first time Crooks has been added.
11 – Number of times ISU has held its opponent to 60 points or less in a game this season. The Cyclones most recently held BYU to under 60 in an 82-59 win in Hilton Coliseum.
15 – Iowa State is one of the top ballhandling teams in the country, recording a 1.33 assist/turnover ratio this season. The Cyclones rank 15th nationally and third in the Big 12 with the mark.
53 – Audi Crooks has scored in double figures in 53 straight games. Angie Welle holds the program’s best mark with 64 consecutive games with double-figure scoring (Nov. 29, 2000-March 18, 2002).
1,000 POINT QUEEN
Iowa State sophomore Audi Crooks became the program’s 35th 1,000 point scorer with her 23rd point against Utah (Jan. 5). Crooks is the fastest Cyclone to score 1,000 points, reaching the mark in 49 games. She passed all-time leading scorer Ashley Joens as the fastest ISU player to 1,000 points, the previous best in 64 games. Crooks is also the third fastest Big 12 women’s basketball player to reach 1,000 points behind Courtney Paris (Oklahoma, 46) and Sheila Lambert (Baylor, 48).
Among a loaded sophomore class nationally, Crooks was the third NCAA Division I player in her class to score 1,000 points at one institution behind JuJu Watkins (USC) and Hannah Hidalgo (Notre Dame). Crooks owns the fifth best career scoring average (20.4 PPG) among active NCAA DI women’s basketball players and ranks 12th overall. Each of the top five NCAA DI career scorers are sophomores and juniors: Watkins (USC), Hidalgo (Notre Dame), Ta’Niya Latson (Florida State), Annesah Morrow (LSU), Crooks (Iowa State).
CROOKS COOKS
Iowa State sophomore Audi Crooks has garnered national attention as one of the nation’s most exciting post players. Crooks has scored in double figures in 53 straight games and finished with 20+ points 30 times in her career. The 6-3 center scored a season-high 33 points against Drake (Nov. 24), including the game-winner with less than a second on the clock. She matched the total against Kansas (Jan. 1) in ISU’s 78-64 win over the Jayhawks.
Crooks was one of the top players in NCAA Division I for field goal percentage last season, shooting nearly 58 percent from the floor. She holds the best made field goal mark regardless of class in ISU history with 258 makes. She broke the Iowa State freshman record for made field goals in a season at Texas (Feb. 17). Crooks broke the overall single season record against Maryland (Mar. 22).
EMILY RYAN DISH-TRIBUTION CENTER
Emily Ryan is one of Iowa State’s most prolific point guards, recording top 10 career marks in assists, steals and blocks while becoming the program’s 34th 1,000 point scorer in March 2023. The Claflin, Kansas native has recorded 907 assists and holds the all-time best mark in program history by over 150 dimes. She is the active NCAA women’s basketball leader for assists with her career total, followed by Kentucky’s Georgia Amoore with 788 dimes.
The 5-11 guard has recorded a career assist/turnover ratio of 1.99. Over 139 games, she has tallied single-game assists at every mark, 1-17 and has never finished a game with less than one assist. Ryan ranks 13th for all-time NCAA DI women’s basketball assists leaders and is 32 dimes from the Top 10.
HILTON MAGIC
The Cyclones have been phenomenal at home during Bill Fennelly‘s tenure, compiling a 391-82 record (.827) in Hilton Coliseum, including a 194-9 (.955) mark against regular-season non-conference opponents. Iowa State has gone undefeated at home three times, most recently during the 2004-05 season.
With a win over Eastern Illinois on Dec. 15, ISU posted a spotless 8-0 non-conference record in Hilton, the 23rd time under Bill Fennelly the Cyclones finished the regular season non-conference home slate undefeated. The Cyclones finished the 2023-24 regular season 13-2 at home and 7-1 in Big 12 play. Iowa State’s 16 wins at Hilton Coliseum in 2021-22 were tied for the third-most in a season in school history.