Tag: Audi Crooks

Iowa State’s Audi Crooks shared a heartwarming message about her late father inspiring her breakout game

Iowa State’s Audi Crooks had a wonderful answer for what was on her mind during her March Madness breakout performance.

Iowa State center Audi Crooks has been one of the breakout stars of either NCAA tournament this March, as she made history on Friday night in her team’s opening-round win over Maryland.

While speaking with reporters after her statement performance, Crooks was asked about what she was thinking about while excelling on the court during Friday’s game. Her answer dealt with her late father, as she expressed why his memory fuels her on the court and in life.

Crooks was moved to tears while talking about she feels her late dad is still with her to this day, which is an incredibly powerful sentiment for the young hoops standout.

Crooks’ heartwarming message about her late father makes you remember how often so many of these young athletes are inspired by difficult moments and painful losses during such impressive performances.

Her character showed brightly in the way she honored her dad after such a major moment in her sports career.

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Oklahoma Sooners lose to the Iowa State Cyclones in the Big 12 Tournament semifinals again

Sooners Big 12 tournament run is over as they fall to the Iowa State Cyclones in the Big 12 tournament semifinals.

It was just one season ago the Oklahoma Sooners were co-regular season Big 12 champs and headed into the semifinals of the [autotag]Big 12 tournament[/autotag] to take on the [autotag]Iowa State Cyclones[/autotag]. The Sooners would go on to lose that game.

Now, they came into the rematch as Big 12 regular season champs, ready to face the Cyclones again. Iowa State jumped on the Sooners early with a quick 18-7 lead. The Sooners were able to battle back and got it to a three-point game in the second quarter after a [autotag]Payton Verhulst[/autotag] three.

That’s when the Cyclones really started to put their stamp on the game as they finished the quarter on a 17-6 run to take a 38-24 lead at the half. The second half was much like the end of the first half and was completely dominated by the Cyclones. The Sooners were never able to get it closer than the 14 points at the half. The Cyclones led by as many as 28 points in the second half.

The Cyclones coasted in the fourth quarter and beat the Sooners 85-68, ending the Sooners’ Big 12 tournament run. The Sooners shot 36.1% from the field and 30.3% from three, while Iowa State shot 57.9% from the field and 52.2% from three.

[autotag]Audi Crooks[/autotag] dominated the Sooners and led the way with 25 points and nine rebounds. For the Sooners, [autotag]Sahara Williams[/autotag] had 16 points and five rebounds, and [autotag]Payton Verhulst[/autotag] had 23 points and seven rebounds.

Now, the Sooners wait for selection day to find out where they will be headed in the NCAA tournament. The biggest question now is if they’ve done enough to earn a top-four seed in the tournament, which would allow them to host the first two rounds in Norman.

But there is no question they’ve done a great job turning things around after how much they struggled earlier in the season.

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