Iowa
Three observations and a quote as No. 5 Texas beats Iowa State in Big 12 basketball game
Four Longhorns — Madison Booker, Shaylee Gonzales, Shay Holle and Aaliyah Moore — scored at least 12 points and No. 5 Texas extended its winning streak to six games with an 80-61 win over Iowa State at Moody Center on Saturday. The victory kept Texas (24-3, 11-3) in the running for the Big 12 championship.
Here are three observations and a quote from the Longhorns’ 19-point triumph:
Texas takes control during the second quarter
When a media timeout was called with 4:37 left in the second quarter, Texas found itself down 31-30. Less than five minutes later, the Longhorns rolled into halftime with an 11-point lead.
So, how did Texas go from facing a one-point deficit to holding a 44-33 edge? Booker scored six points in a 66-second span, and UT also got buckets from Moore, Gonzales and DeYona Gaston as well as a Taylor Jones free throw. Defensively, Texas forced two turnovers while limiting Iowa State to a 1-for-8 shooting performance.
Iowa State was unable to get any closer than five points in the second half against Texas, which outscored the Cyclones 23-10 in the fourth quarter.
Two of the Big 12’s top freshmen go head-to-head
Saturday’s game featured the only two players to win three Big 12 freshman of the week awards this season. Booker, the Texas point guard, and Iowa State center Audi Crooks had also each been recognized once as the Big 12 player of the week.
Since both players played well on Wednesday — Booker scored 23 points in a 82-66 rout of Houston while Crooks had 20 points and nine rebounds in a double-overtime takedown of No. 7 Kansas State — another weekly award was possibly on the line on Saturday. Perhaps either Booker or Crooks would also emerge as the clear frontrunner for Big 12 freshman of the year.
In addition to the win, Booker recorded her second double-double performance of the season. She had 18 points, which matched Gonzales’ team-high total. She also distributed a career-high 10 assists while committing only two turnovers. In the fourth quarter, she earned perhaps her biggest cheers when she loudly blocked a shot by Iowa State’s Addy Brown.
“Madison Booker is skilled, very mature beyond her age,” Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly said. “The game doesn’t speed up for her and you got to give her a lot of credit and their coaches for, you know, she’s had to make a position adjustment without Rori (Harmon).”
Added Fennelly: “It’s a bad comparison, but since I’m in Texas, she’s got a little Kevin Durant in her. Got a fadeaway, jumper, can do a lot of things. Very impressive on film and a lot more impressive sitting on the bench watching her play.” That comparison may be apt for Booker, who wears the No. 35 because of Durant.
Crooks held her own over the 33 minutes that she played. The 6-foot-3 newcomer shot 10-for-19 from the field and led all scorers with 24 points.
“She’s got a great career in front of her,” Texas coach Vic Schaefer said. “She is hard to deal with.”
Texas, two others pull within one game of Oklahoma
The Big 12 race can now be considered a sprint to the finish. Oklahoma entered this weekend with a two-game lead over Kansas State, Texas and West Virginia, but the Sooners (18-7, 12-2) were beaten on the road by West Virginia (22-3, 11-3) on Saturday. That means that lead over the Longhorns, Mountaineers and a Wildcats team that beat Central Florida is down to one game.
Each of those four teams must play four more games in the regular season. The key games down the stretch will be West Virginia’s trip to Kansas State (22-4, 11-3) next Wednesday and Oklahoma’s home game against Texas on Feb. 28.
“You can’t take anything for granted right now, especially in this league with so many good teams. Anything can happen on any given night, so it’s really just one game at a time, focus on who’s next,” said Holle, whose team will host Texas Tech this upcoming Wednesday.
Texas and Oklahoma split the Big 12 championship last year. West Virginia won its last conference championship in 2014 and it’s been 16 years since Kansas State was last crowned.
They said it: Shaylee gets back to scoring
“I tried to focus on being more aggressive. I feel like that really helped me and just driving it to the basket,” — Shaylee Gonzales.
Her 18 points were a conference-high total this season for the sixth-year guard. Gonzales had been limited to 13 points over her last four games despite playing 124 minutes in those contests. Against Iowa State, she made eight of her 15 shots and knocked down two 3-pointers within 40 seconds of each other in the first quarter.
Iowa
Vote: Who Should be Iowa’s High School Athlete of the Week? (4/19/2026)
Here are the candidates for High School on SI’s Iowa high school athlete of the week for April 13-18. Read through the nominees and cast your vote.
Voting closes at 11:59 p.m. PT on Sunday, April 26. The winner will be announced in the following week’s poll. Here are this week’s nominees:
Taylor Roose, Pella boys track and field
Roose competed in three events at the Norwalk Invitational, winning all three in the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash and long jump.
Daxon Kiesau, Urbandale boys track and field
Kiesau swept the throwing events at the Norwalk Invitational, taking first place in the shot put and the discus.
Alex Burger, Southeast Valley boys track and field
Competing at home, Burger dominated, earning four gold medals. He won the 400-meter hurdles and the long jump while running on the winning 4×200-meter relay and shuttle hurdle relay.
Kolby Hodnefield, Clear Lake boys track and field
Hodenfield, a defending state champion, broke the meet, venue and school record in the 200 and the 400 at the Clear Lake Invitational. He added victories as part of the 4×100 and 4×400 relays. Both relays also set meet records.
Easton Moon, North Polk boys tennis
Moon has started off his senior season on the courts unbeaten, winning all four matches while dropping just one game in 44 played.
Ava Lohrbach, Gilbert girls golf
One of the top golfers in the state, Lohrbach has had a hot start, firing a 35 in her nine-hole debut and a 72 for her 18-hole opener.
Nathan Manske, Algona boys golf
An elite quarterback and basketball player, Manske is showing his golfing skills this spring, coming out with a state-low 30 in a nine-hole event.
Ella Hein, Tipton girls track and field
Hein set school records in the 400-meter run and long jump at the Tiger/Tigerette Relays while also locking in the Blue Standard and qualifying for the Drake Relays. She won the long jump (18-6) and was second in the 400.
Maeve Bowen-Burt, Iowa City High girls track and field
The sophomore helped the Little Hawks land three Drake Relays events on the last night of qualifying, advancing in the 400 hurdles, along with the sprint medley and 4×400 relays.
About Our Athlete of the Week Voting
High School on SI voting polls are meant to be a fun, lighthearted way for fans to show support for their favorite athletes and teams. Our goal is to celebrate all of the players featured, regardless of the vote totals. Sometimes one athlete will receive a very large number of votes — even thousands — and that’s okay! The polls are open to everyone and are simply a way to build excitement and community around high school sports. Unless we specifically announce otherwise, there are no prizes or official awards for winning. The real purpose is to highlight the great performances of every athlete included in the poll.
Follow
Iowa
Houston icon George Foreman laid to rest in Iowa, drawn by a peaceful 1988 visit
The late boxing great George Foreman lies buried in a cemetery in the northwestern corner of Iowa – a place he has no connection to outside of a lone visit to the region nearly 40 years ago.
Foreman died March 21, 2025, at the age of 76 in Houston and was buried in Logan Park Cemetery at Sioux City, Iowa, a month later, city officials confirmed. Foreman’s family returned Thursday to his burial site, holding a news conference with Sioux City Mayor Bob Scott to reveal Foreman’s burial place, marked by a large monument that bears an image of him as a teen following his Olympic gold medal boxing win.
The family explained in a statement released by Sioux City officials that he had visited the Iowa city in 1988, and often recalled the sense of peace he experienced there.
After traveling to the city on April 17 last year to bury Foreman, his family said they immediately understood the region’s appeal.
“Our father lived a life of purpose, faith and gratitude,” the family said in a statement released by Sioux City officials. “To see him laid to rest in a place that brought him peace means everything to us.”
Scott joined the family at Foreman’s monument that lies just a few miles north of the Missouri River in an upper Midwest city of nearly 87,000 people. The cemetery overlooks the scenic Loess Hills, created by windblown silt deposits that reach up to 200 feet high (about 61 meters) and line the river along the Iowa border for 200 miles (322 kilometers).
“Their story is a reminder of how one place can stay with someone for a lifetime,” Scott said.
A native Texan, Foreman rose to fame when he made the 1968 U.S. Olympic boxing team, winning gold in Mexico City. He became the heavyweight champion of the world in 1973 by defeating the great Joe Frazier, only to lose the title a year later to Muhammad Ali in the famous “Rumble in the Jungle.”
A full 20 years later in 1994, Foreman became the oldest man to win the heavyweight championship at 45, defeating Michael Moorer in an epic upset.
Foreman retired in 1997 with a 76-5 career record.
He then moved on to the next chapter in his life as a businessman, pitchman and occasional actor, becoming known to a new generation as the face of the George Foreman Grill. The simple cooking machine sold more than 100 million units and brought him more wealth than boxing.
A biographical movie based on Foreman’s life was released in 2023.
Copyright © 2026 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Iowa
GOP governor candidate Zach Lahn pitches Iowa-first platform at Dubuque town hall
DUBUQUE, Iowa (KCRG) — About 50 Iowans braved the threat of severe storms to hear from Republican candidate for governor Zach Lahn at his town hall in Dubuque Friday night.
Lahn, a farmer and businessman, said his campaign is about solving the long-term systemic issues facing Iowans.
One priority is addressing what Lahn calls a cancer crisis in Iowa, as the state has the second-highest cancer rate in the country. Solving the crisis means ensuring Iowans have access to clean, nitrate-free drinking water, working with farmers to reduce agricultural runoff.
“Iowans are just ready for something that they should be able to count on, like clean drinking water,” Lahn said. “We have ways to clean up the drinking water in Iowa that isn’t on the backs of farmers, but is working alongside with them because they’re drinking the water too, and they want to do what’s right.”
Lahn also wants to stop Iowa’s “brain drain,” as more of Iowa’s college graduates left the state for opportunities elsewhere.
“Don’t leave! Give me some time! I’m going to fight to keep you here,” Lahn said. “I was one of these kids. I thought I had to leave the state to find something better. We have to prioritize Iowa’s incentive dollars to make sure they’re going to grow Iowa businesses that are going to be here for the long haul, so our kids have places to work.”
Running a distinct campaign feels challenging this election, as Lahn is one of five GOP candidates who want to be Iowa’s next governor, facing U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, former Department of Administrative Services Director Adam Steen, state Rep. Eddie Andrews and former state Rep. Brad Sherman.
Iowa Auditor Rob Sand is the only Democrat running for the state’s top office.
Lahn said he stands out by promising Iowa will be for Iowans, pledging to ban the use of eminent domain for private gain and tax out-of-state landowners and data centers at higher rates to lower property taxes.
“It always goes back to follow the money, so when it comes to not being a weak-kneed Republican today, I believe the paramount piece of that is answering only to the citizens of Iowa, not to special interests to pad their bottom line, but what’s best for the people of Iowa,” Lahn said.
Copyright 2026 KCRG. All rights reserved.
-
Hawaii1 second ago
Large section of Aloha Stadium demolished as project proceeds – West Hawaii Today
-
Idaho6 minutes ago
Idaho Lottery results: See winning numbers for Powerball, Pick 3 on April 18, 2026
-
Illinois12 minutes ago5 tornadoes confirmed in Illinois from Friday’s storms
-
Indiana18 minutes agoAn Indiana district turned to voters to fund more preschool seats. Here’s what happened next.
-
Iowa24 minutes agoVote: Who Should be Iowa’s High School Athlete of the Week? (4/19/2026)
-
Kansas30 minutes agoKansas Losing Momentum With Key Transfer Target After New Visits
-
Kentucky36 minutes agoKentucky is poised to land either Donnie Freeman or Sebastian Rancik this weekend, per report
-
Louisiana42 minutes ago‘Growth pays for growth’: Entergy’s Fair Share Plus model to save Louisiana customers $2.8 billion