Iowa State women’s basketball: Addy Brown’s career night lifts Cyclones over Arizona State

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – As Iowa State sophomore Addy Brown sank the second of her two free throws with 47.8 seconds remaining in Thursday’s game with Arizona State, a big round of applause rang out around the T-Mobile Center.

The buckets were the finishing touches on a memorable night for the Iowa State women’s basketball star.

Brown finished with a career-high 41 points as Iowa State beat Arizona State 96-88 in the second round of the Big 12 Conference Tournament.

The Cyclones advanced to Friday’s 5:30 p.m. quarterfinal against No. 18 Baylor, and Brown was the primary reason.

The versatile forward broke Iowa State’s single-game record for points in a Big 12 Tournament game, passing Ashley Joens’ mark of 33 set in 2022 against Texas.

Brown came within a point of Iowa State’s single-game mark of 42 points set by Tonya Burns in 1984. She did plenty to help the Cyclones win their third straight game and move on.

It was apparent early on that Brown was on her way to a huge day. Brown connected on five of her first eight shots from the field and had 13 points. She hit back-to-back 3-pointers as part of a 9-0 run that gave Iowa State a 15-11 lead. She was just getting started.

Brown tallied 11 more points in the second quarter and had 24 of Iowa State’s 45 first-half points. The Cyclones, who led by 11 at halftime, got even more from Brown in the second half. She had eight points in a 10-0 run that pushed Iowa State’s lead to 60-40 during the third quarter. The final basket in that run, a layup and made free throw by Brown, gave her a new career-high with 4:43 left.

Brown checked out of the game with 32.2 seconds remaining.

Tommy Birch, the Register’s sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He’s the 2018, 2020 and 2023 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468