Iowa State out of March Madness despite Audi Crooks' perfect answer to being subbed out

Iowa State is out of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament after losing a thrilling game against Michigan.

Audi Crooks finished with 28 points but the No.11 seed, which led at halftime, was beaten by the No.6 Wolverines.

Star center Crooks was forced to exit her team's NCAA Tournament first-round matchup early on with two fouls in the first eight minutes.

Crooks, a 2025 third-team All-American, struggled to the tune of three first-quarter points as the Cyclones found themselves trailing 19-13.

But after her early foul trouble, she was subbed in by 30th-year head coach Bill Fennelly to start the second and immediately turned the game around, making a contested layup and then dishing to Arianna Jackson for a three.

Crooks finished the second quarter with 11 points while shooting a first 5/5 from the field as Iowa State stormed to a 37-32 halftime lead (outscoring Michigan 24-13 in the second quarter).

It wouldn't be enough: despite her 28 points on 13/18 shooting, Crooks and the Cyclones fell 80-74 to the Wolverines.

The year was a total loss for Crooks: 2024/25 marked her official coming-out party.

The sensational sophomore averaged 23.3 points on 60.1% shooting along with 7.5 rebounds and 0.7 blocks to just 2.1 fouls per contest.

Iowa State returned to the NCAA Tournament after a one-season absence.

The sophomore scored 27 points against fellow No.

11 Princeton in the first four as Iowa State triumphed to advance into the Regional 3 Birmingham regional tournament proper.

Iowa State was a bubble team all season, performing well in non-conference games and against unseeded competition while failing to beat a single-ranked team.

Audi Crooks has the Cyclones roaring back Watch 11-seed Iowa State vs.

6-seed Michigan ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/kyN230ZX2x espnW (@espnW) March 21, 2025 Crooks did all she could against No.

17 Baylor in the Big-12 conference tournament quarterfinal, scoring 32 points as the Cyclones fell 69-63.

The 2023 four-star recruit has attracted a lot of attention online, leading some to label her as the "Shaquille O'Neal of women's college basketball." Fennelly is not happy with the chatter online.

Its disgusting, he told the Des Moines Register .

I get more mad than she does about it, to be honest with you.

The recognition became big, but thats [only] when you do well, her mom Michelle Cook said.

Thats when you also face a lot of criticism." Crooks admitted it's sometimes gotten to her.

Recognizing the important things outside of social media, those are things that really help me get through (it) and help ground me if Im having a difficult time, she revealed..

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