Iowa
Iowa State women’s basketball: Cyclones running out of time to tally marquee win
Addy Brown talks about Iowa State’s missed shots against K-State and TCU
Iowa State’s Addy Brown on her team nearly knocking off Kansas State and TCU
AMES – The Iowa State women’s basketball team is running out of opportunities to tally a much-needed marquee victory this season. The Cyclones suffered their second ranked loss of the week with an 82-69 defeat to No. 9 TCU at Hilton Coliseum on Sunday.
With the loss, Iowa State fell to 15-9 on the season including 6-5 in Big 12 Conference play. The Cyclones dropped to 0-6 against ranked opponents and have yet to pick up a Quad 1 victory to spruce up their NCAA Tournament resume. Which means time is ticking for Iowa State to get one.
“Obviously we don’t feel great about that,” Iowa State’s Audi Crooks said of the week that also included a loss at No. 11 Kansas State. “That’s not how we planned on the week going. However, that is the reality. That is the situation. We had opportunities in both games to honestly win the games.”
Iowa State couldn’t capitalize on either of them, and that has left the Cyclones’ postseason future hanging in the balance. The Cyclones entered Sunday’s game with TCU on the NCAA Tournament bubble in ESPN bracketologist Charlie Creme’s latest projections.
Creme, who had the Cyclones among his last four teams in, told the Register earlier in the week that Iowa State could possibly get off the bubble if it could pick up a victory over Kansas State or TCU.
Iowa State has struggled against ranked opponents throughout the season, getting pummeled by South Carolina, UConn and West Virginia and losing a closer game at Iowa.
While Iowa State hasn’t suffered any truly ugly losses so far this season, the Cyclones are in desperate need of picking up a signature win. They nearly got it when they took Kansas State to overtime on Thursday. The Cyclones had a chance to win the game but a 3-pointer by point guard Emily Ryan was off the mark.
Iowa State then had its chances Sunday. The Cyclones held TCU star Sedona Prince scoreless before she fouled out. Iowa State trailed by one at halftime and cut TCU’s lead to four in the fourth quarter. But the Cyclones couldn’t get the lead. The loss felt similar to the game at K-State.
“We’re right there in the game, throughout almost the whole game,” said Iowa State’s Addy Brown. “Like, we’ve just got to clean up the little things, a few things, five to eight minutes worth of the game and the game is ours.”
Iowa State’s Audi Crooks talks about her team’s loss to TCU
Iowa State’s Audi Crooks looks back on her team’s loss to TCU
The near-upsets may ultimately help the Cyclones, who are benefiting from what Creme believes is a weak bubble group this season. Losing to K-State and TCU may not prevent Iowa State from getting in. But it did stop the Cyclones from potentially solidifying a spot.
Now the Cyclones are running out of chances to improve their resume. Iowa State has just one more ranked opponent on its schedule, the regular-season finale with Kansas State at home on March 2. The Cyclones also travel to Baylor, which would be a nice victory. But Wednesday’s game at Cincinnati and Saturday’s contest with Colorado likely won’t do much to help Iowa State’s resume.
The Cyclones also have Kansas, Houston and UCF remaining. Those games won’t help Iowa State’s resume, but an ugly loss would certainly hurt it. Iowa State has done a good job of beating the teams it’s supposed to beat. The Cyclones will try to continue that trend.
While Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly said he doesn’t pay attention to his team’s postseason picture or games down the line, he did acknowledge there are still possibilities for his team to make up ground.
“If you look at the big picture, we don’t have a bad loss … and we have whatever, seven more opportunities to play in a Big 12 game,” Fennelly said. “There’s still opportunities there for us to do some good things.”
Crooks scored 29 points, but needed 26 shots to do it
Iowa State’s sophomore star poured in 29 points, grabbed six rebounds and handed out two assists in the loss. But Crooks was not efficient with her shots, connecting on just 12-of-26 from the field. Finishing near the basket was a big issue for the Cyclones, and it certainly plagued Crooks for most of Sunday.
“You can’t miss 14 shots around the basket,” Fennelly said.
Crooks and Addy Brown carried the scoring load for Iowa State
Crooks and Addy Brown combined to score 60 of Iowa State’s 69 points. Brown finished with 31 on 11-of-16 shooting from the field, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range. Then there was the 29-point performance from Crooks.
The problem for the Cyclones: Hardly anyone else contributed.
Kelsey Joens and Arianna Jackson both chipped in with three points. Emily Ryan added two. Alisa Williams had one. The eight other players who saw the court combined to shoot just 2-of-9 from the field. Crooks and Brown combined for 86.9% of Iowa State’s scoring and had all 33 of Iowa State’s second-half points.
“Obviously we’ve got to have some people step up and I think they’re more than capable,” Brown said. “We’re just waiting. We’re believing in them and we’re just going to have the utmost confidence in them because that’s what they need and I think they’re more than capable and they’re going to step up because that’s what the coaches are asking them to do.”
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
A couple of years ago, former Iowa State Cyclones star Breece Hall appeared to be one of the top up and coming running backs in the NFL, and entering his third professional season with the New York Jets in 2024, many had him pegged as a potential breakout candidate.
However, Hall ended up having a very disappointing campaign, rushing for 876 yards and five touchdowns while averaging a pedestrian 4.2 yards per carry. Yes, he added 57 catches for 483 yards and three scores, but to put it plainly, more was expected from Hall last year.
Now, with the Jets having a new coaching staff in place, Hall is at the center of trade speculation, and Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine has listed him as one of New York’s top trade candidates with training camp approaching.
“The vaunted draft class of 2022 looms large moving forward, though. Sauce Gardner, Garrett Wilson, Jermaine Johnson II and Breece Hall will all be up for contract extensions soon and paying all of them could get pricey,” Ballentine wrote.
Let’s be honest: the Jets will certainly be extending Gardner and Wilson before Hall, and Johnson may even have the edge, too. New York has a couple of young halfbacks in Braelon Allen and Isaiah Davis that will probably get more playing time in 2025, as well.
Hall spent three seasons at Iowa State, leading the Big 12 in rushing touchdowns back-to-back campaigns in 2020 and 2021. He also led the country with 1,572 yards on the ground in the former year.
Overall, the 23-year-old racked up 3,933 yards and 50 rushing scores during his time with the Cyclones while also catching 82 passes for 734 yards and six touchdowns. The Jets took him in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
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Joann plans to close 500 stores, including 2 in Jacksonville
Joann, the popular fabric and crafts retailer, has announced plans to shutter 500 stores amid a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, including two in the Jacksonville area.
Say goodbye to Joann stores because the craft retailer is permanently closing its remaining Iowa stores by the end of May.
Joann shuttered 255 locations in April, including two in Iowa, months after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time within a year. Since filing for bankruptcy, the company has held going-out-of-business sales at the locations.
At those sales, prices are marked down 70% to 90%, according to Joann.com. (Note: sales on the online site have ended.) Stores are also selling the furniture, shelves and equipment, according to the site.
When is Joann closing its stores?
The more than 440 stores that remain will be closed by May 31, said Jo Anne McCusker, a spokesperson for GA Group, the retail liquidator that won all of Joann’s chain’s assets through auction in February. The chain’s website says many stores will close by May 30.
When are Joann stores in Iowa closing?
There are seven Joann stores that will close in Iowa by May 31, according to USA TODAY. The Ames location was not included in a list the company provided to USA TODAY, but the location is listed as a liquidation store on Joann’s website.
- Ankeny: 1205 SE 16th Court, Suite 200
- Cedar Rapids: 255 Collins Road NE
- Clive: 9999 University Ave.
- Davenport: 902 W. Kimberly Road, Suite 41
- Dubuque: 2600 Dodge St., Suite A-4
- Iowa City: 1676 Sycamore St.
- Waterloo: 1407 Flammang Dr.
Have any Iowa stores already closed?
USA TODAY reported that two Joann stores in Iowa were included in an earlier round of store closures.
JoAnn stores in Mason City and Muscatine closed on April 28.
Kate Kealey is a general assignment reporter for the Register. Reach her at kkealey@registermedia.com or follow her on Twitter at @Kkealey17.
Northwestern University men’s basketball has announced a historic “home-and-home” exhibition series with Iowa State that will be played over the next two years.
The series begins Sunday, October 26, 2025, when Northwestern travels to Ames to face the Cyclones at Hilton Coliseum. Iowa State will return the favor during the 2026 preseason, visiting Welsh-Ryan Arena on either Saturday, October 24, or Sunday, October 25, 2026:
The matchup represents significant firsts for both programs. Northwestern will break new ground by playing its first preseason exhibition against a Division I opponent in program history. For Iowa State, the October contest will mark their first exhibition game at Hilton Coliseum since 2017, when they defeated Emporia State 77-68.
The Cyclones will enter the Northwestern exhibition having already completed their preseason opener at Creighton on October 17. The 2025 schedule marks the first time Iowa State has played two exhibition games in a single season since 2009, when they defeated Black Hills State 96-47 and UNC Pembroke 106-54
Both teams enter the series following contrasting 2024-25 campaigns. Iowa State posted a 25-10 record and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, earning the 13th spot in ESPN’s Way Too Early Top 25 rankings. Northwestern finished 17-16 in their third consecutive winning season.
Specific tipoff times and television broadcast schedules will be announced at a later date. Northwestern’s full 2025-26 schedule has yet to be released, buttickets are currently available for purchase.
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