Iowa State sophomore Audi Crooks had 36 points on 14-18 shooting as Kansas State women’s basketball fell the Cyclones 85-63 in the regular season finale in Ames on Sunday, carding consecutive losses for the first time all season. 

Alongside Crooks was senior guard and Kansas native Emily Ryan, who scored 17 points and dished out 10 assists on the afternoon. 

K-State (25-6, 13-5 Big 12) was led by Temira Poindexter, as she scored 17 points and knocked down four triples in the game. Senior Serena Sundell also reached double figures with 11 points and added six rebounds and six assists.

The first quarter was a very entertaining game as both teams traded the lead back and forth. At the end of one, Iowa State held the slight two-point advantage.

In the second quarter, the game remained as tight as could be, with both teams trading shots from a distance. At half, Iowa State held just a one-point lead, 35-34.

In the third quarter however, was when the Cyclones started to pull away in the game. The Cyclones came out and made their first six field goal attempts and grew the lead out to seven. K-State kept it a single digit deficit for a while but in the last two minutes of the third quarter, Iowa State went on a 12-0 run to balloon the lead.

The ‘Clones out-scored the Wildcats 27-15 in the quarter and had all the momentum going into the fourth quarter with a 13 point lead. The Wildcats cut their deficit down to 11 points with a chance to cut it closer in the fourth but never did. A late run by Iowa State officially put the game away and gave Iowa State a big home win on senior night and a boost off the NCAA bubble. 

The Cyclones shot 54% from the floor on the game but were a scorching 41% from three point range. The Wildcats on the other hand were only 33% from the field and 25% from three.

A big issue K-State had in the contest was keeping the Iowa State bigs off the glass. Iowa State led the rebounding margin 47-31, a substantial deficit leading to the crooked outcome. 

K-State will be the No. 5 seed in the upcoming Big 12 Tournament and await the winner of BYU and UCF in Kansas City at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday.

The Wildcats will need a good showing in Kansas City to prove to the committee they are worthy of hosting opening weekend of March Madness for the second consecutive season, when the Wildcats anticipate the boost of star center Ayoka Lee returning.