Star junior Audi Crooks has been able to lead Iowa State to victory in every game of the 2025-26 NCAA season so far, but the Cyclones' luck ran out on Sunday. Then-No. 22 Baylor's Taliah Scott hit the game-winning shot over Crooks with 2.9 seconds remaining to lift the final score to 72-70, upsetting then-No. 10 Iowa State and handing the team its first loss of the campaign.
Crooks' attempt at a final shot was knocked away as the clock hit zero, sealing the Cyclones' fate. Baylor managed to essentially shut down the center in the second half, limiting her to just four points after halftime. Crooks finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds on 55% shooting from the field, breaking her five-game win streak with at least 30 points.
After the game, Crooks was brutally honest about her disappointment with her performance despite registering another double-double.
“My field goal percentage, trash to my standards, that’s trash. I can’t let that happen again,” Crooks said. “When you lose, it really just puts everything out there. You have to look in that mirror and recognize what you have to do better.”
Standout junior Jada Williams led the team in scoring and took over when Crooks struggled to put up points. She hit a game-tying 3-pointer near the end of the contest and finished with a career-high 28 points and seven assists in the losing effort. Despite being just as unsatisfied as Crooks with the end result, Williams was more optimistic about the path forward for Iowa State.
“I hate losing more than I love winning. That’s something that we don’t take for granted, but don’t get it twisted, nobody can break us,” the guard said, according to Iowa State Daily reporter Aleigha Bailey. “We’re too close to each other, we love each other too much … [Baylor] can’t define us.”
Meanwhile, Scott scored all of her 21 points in the second half, including 11 in a row to help the Bears build their lead over the Cyclones. The win marks Baylor's second victory over a top-10 program after topping then-No. 7 Duke in the season opener. Now ranked at No. 16, Baylor will next take on Colorado at home on Thursday, while now-No. 11 Iowa State will attempt to regain its winning ways at Cincinnati on Wednesday.
