Women’s Top 25 roundup: Iowa St. upsets No. 17 Sooners in semis

Field Level Media|published: Mon 11th March, 18:41 2024

Mar 11, 2024; Kansas City, MO, USA; Iowa State Cyclones center Audi Crooks (55) shoots the ball around Oklahoma Sooners forward Skylar Vann (24) during the second half at T-Mobile Center. credits: William Purnell-USA TODAY Sports

Audi Crooks racked up 25 points and nine rebounds and Iowa State toppled No. 17 Oklahoma 85-68 in the semifinals of the Big 12 women's basketball tournament on Monday in Kansas City, Mo.

The fourth-seeded Cyclones surprised the top-seeded Sooners and advanced to Tuesday night's conference championship game, where it will face either No. 5 Texas or No. 16 Kansas State.

Emily Ryan tallied 12 points, 10 assists and six rebounds for the Cyclones (20-10), who have now beaten a ranked opponent six times this season. They took the lead for good at 6-5 and never looked back, using a 15-0 run in the first quarter and a 9-0 stretch in the third to lead by as many as 28 points.

Payton Verhulst led Oklahoma (22-9) with 23 points and seven boards.

No. 14 Gonzaga 72, Pacific 61

Eliza Hollingsworth had 20 points and 12 rebounds and Yvonne Ejim added 18 points and 13 rebounds as the Bulldogs staved off the Tigers in the West Coast Conference tournament semifinals in Las Vegas.

Hollingsworth, Kaylynne Truong and Brynna Maxwell each made three 3-pointers for top-seeded Gonzaga (30-2), which will face Santa Clara or Portland in Tuesday's conference final. Maxwell scored 17 points and Truong finished with 13.

Anaya James scored 23 points and Liz Smith had 12 for fifth-seeded Pacific (18-14).

No. 21 UNLV 83, Fresno State 35

Alyssa Brown posted 16 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots as the Lady Rebels stifled the Bulldogs in a Mountain West tournament quarterfinal in Las Vegas.

Amarachi Kimpson added 16 points, six boards and five assists off the bench for top-seeded UNLV (28-2), which will play the winner of Nevada and Colorado State in the semifinals on Tuesday. Kiara Jackson scored 15 points and Desi-Rae Young had 10.

The Lady Rebels shot 51.9 percent from the floor and 12-of-21 (57.1 percent) from 3-point range while holding ninth-seeded Fresno State to 21.3 percent overall and 2-of-25 (8 percent) from deep. Mia Jacobs and Maria Konstantinidou shared the team lead with seven points apiece for the Bulldogs (15-18).

—Field Level Media

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