Arizona Wildcats (11-6, 2-2 Big 12) vs. Iowa State (11-6, 2-2 Big 12) | 2 p.m. Saturday | McKale Center | ESPN+ | 1400-AM
She said it
Arizona coach Adia Barnes on Iowa State: “This is going to be a tough game. They have four shooters and four versatile players that can all play on the perimeter. Audi Crooks is really hard to guard inside. It’s hard to double off the shooters because a lot of them shoot over 40%. I guess we have our work cut out for us. Keeping Breya (Cunningham) out of foul trouble will be key. Having Breya guard Audi and then attacking her obviously offensively and bringing her away from the basket. Audi is just so good and uses her body so well inside, it's impressive. And she's got great hands. In transition they shoot it. Just one of those teams that it's hard to match up when you have posts, because they have, like No. 24 (Addy Brown) they're starting at the four is like a guard. Inside Audi is so good, she demands attention, so that's what makes them dangerous. We can't let them just get open.”
On the sidelines
The 3: Here are three questions with Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly.
Q: What makes All-American Audi Crooks so special?
Iowa State center Audi Crooks shoots over Iowa forward Hannah Stuelke during the first half, Dec. 11, 2024, in Iowa City, Iowa.
A: “She came in (as a freshman) and her progress was faster than anyone thought. She has great hands. Her footwork is really good. Hopefully we've helped a little bit. She came here with that. Obviously, her physical strength and ability to post up, ability to absorb contact, is really good. I think she has a simple game, but at the same time, a game that can adjust as far as how you're going to double team her and things like that. She has a very even temperament. The physicality of the collegiate game — because she came from a really, really small high school in Iowa that she never saw anyone near her size — to be able to handle that at the collegiate level without totally panicking is pretty good. I think from a skill standpoint, her hands and her feet allowed her to do things in the post, maybe at an advanced stage compared to some others her age.”
Q: What’s it like to coach someone like Audi?
A: “It's very special. And it's been fun, in the sense of we've had to redo a lot of the stuff that we've done in the past. We haven't had a player like that, not just a player like Audi, a true five. We've had more hybrid kids. We’ve tried to do a lot of different things but it's been fun because she wants to be coached, she wants to be good. She's a great teammate. Her teammates enjoy playing with her. And for us, we've worked really hard on where do we get her the ball? When do we get her the ball? (Not to) put her in a tough spot. We spend a lot of time working on what, when the defenses double her — stuff that we haven't had to do here, in maybe forever. She is the most unique low post player, one of the most unique players we've ever had here. It’s been fun and it's been a challenge for all of us, but one that we've really enjoyed because she's the kind of kid that you want to coach, and the kind of kid that shows up every day and wants to get better.”
Q: Where would you say you are right now as you were picked to finish top of the league and seem to be trying to figure things out?
A: “We haven't shot the ball nearly as well as we're capable. That's been an issue. Our starting two-guard is out for the season. She had to have a hip surgery, so she's done, and then our starting point guard is working her way back from some off season stuff. Her time is limited. I think basically we are at about 40% of the minutes from those two people that we needed so that that has been a huge issue for us. … I think our kids have played really, really hard and it seems like we've had — with the exception of South Carolina and UConn, we just didn't play well, and they played great — we've had a two- to five-minute stretch in every game, but sometimes at the beginning of the game, sometimes in the third quarter of the game, that we just have not been able to overcome. Our inability to make the shots that you need to make, especially when people are packing on Audi. It's been a combination of things. But I think the biggest thing is we're not where we probably wanted to be, or could have been, or should be, or whatever because of the issue we have in our back court. We're trying to figure out ways to manage that right now.”
Beh in the spotlight: With Montaya Dew out for the Baylor game with the flu, Barnes made a point of telling Isis Beh it was her turn to step up and be aggressive on offense.
Beh has the ability to do so, she just hasn’t been looking for her shot in games this season.
Arizona forward Isis Beh yells towards the Wildcat bench after her shot beat the buzzer and forced overtime against Baylor at McKale Center on Jan. 8, 2025.
To help, Barnes designed plays that were meant for Breya Cunningham to be the first option, but if she was drawing multiple defenders, that would leave Beh open.
“Off of the secondary action, Isis was wide open,” Barnes said. “That's how she was scoring so much and she was taking advantage of it. We told her before the game she had to be aggressive and she did that. So that was good. She stepped up when they want to put a lot of attention to Breya, it was good.”
Jada Williams added: “In practice, she's a killer. She drives from the three point line, she does all this, and then in the game she thinks that's not her role. We've been stressing, ‘We need you to shoot at least nine times. Like, come on, bro. You be killing in practice.’ I think just (giving) her that confidence in the game and just staying on her, being a cheerleader is what we’ve been doing.”
Beh’s buzzer-beating score to tie the game at 71 in regulation and force overtime was on an inbounds play that the Wildcats have been practicing a lot over the last few weeks. Actually, both of Beh’s inbounds scores – the previous one to tie it up at 69 — was also one that the Wildcats spent a lot of time on.
It was the one that sent the game into overtime that made the ESPNW feed with the caption, “That was TOUGHHHH.”
A streak: Crooks’ streak of scoring in double figures is up to 49 consecutive games, and she's scored at least 20 in the past seven games. The sophomore center is building on her All-American freshman season, averaging 23 points per game this year.
Her double figures streak started in her second collegiate game when she scored 23 against Drake.
This streak might remind folks of former UA standout Aari McDonald. She scored in double figures in every game she played in an Arizona uniform — 93 straight games — over three seasons.
By the numbers
1: Freshman Mailien Rolf, who collected her second start in as many games, only had one turnover in 38 minutes.
11: Arizona hasn’t won an overtime game in 11 months. That one was on Feb. 18 when the Wildcats outlasted Washington, 90-82 in three overtimes behind Beh’s 29 point-performance. UA lost a tight one to USC, 95-93 in two overtimes on Feb. 29. Both games were played in McKale Center.
2: This is the second time this season that both of Arizona's basketball teams — men's and women's — play in McKale on the same day. The men are playing the nightcap at 8 p.m. against UCF.
