Within the technique of handing No. 10 Iowa State its first lack of the season Sunday afternoon, No. 22 Baylor and Bears coach Nicki Collen might have given the remainder of the nation a blueprint on easy methods to decelerate Naismith Participant of the 12 months candidate Audi Crooks.
The sport log will present that Baylor’s Taliah Scott, who scored all of her 21 factors within the second half, sank a last-second jumper to energy the Bears’ 72-70 upset win over the Cyclones (14-1) in Ames, Iowa, however the plan and execution relating to easy methods to deal with Crooks is what set the desk for the gorgeous upset.
Previous to the sport, Collen joked that Baylor (13-3) would want supernatural assist to defend Crooks, who entered Sunday because the main scorer within the nation at 29.4 factors per sport on a historic 72.5% capturing. In NCAA Division I ladies’s basketball historical past (which formally dates again to 1981-82), there have been 24 earlier situations of a participant averaging a minimum of 29 factors per sport, per Stathead. None of them have shot above 60.1%.
Crooks has largely been unstoppable this season due to her rolodex of put up strikes, deft footwork and distinctive body. She already has three 40-point outings, together with a career-high 47 factors in opposition to Indiana, and hasn’t shot worse than 57.1% in any sport.
Early in opposition to Baylor, it was extra of the identical. Crooks, allowed to play one-on-one, scored Iowa State’s first 9 factors with ease, and had 14 factors on an ideal 6-6 from the sector within the first quarter. By the tip of the primary half, she was as much as 22 factors on 9 of 11, and a kind of misses was a uncommon 3-pointer simply earlier than the halftime buzzer.
Crooks’ productive second quarter overshadowed the truth that Baylor had began to alter their defensive gameplan. In the course of the body, there have been a number of possessions the place Jada Williams’ defender sank into the paint to entrance Crooks and stop the Cyclones from getting her the ball.
That foreshadowed the Bears’ much more drastic method within the fourth quarter, after they refused to let Crooks affect the sport. As soon as once more, the Bears ignored Williams (Reese Beaty briefly received the identical remedy when she was within the sport for Williams) so they might have two defenders sandwich Crooks within the put up. Whereas Williams is a robust playmaker — team-high 7.2 assists per sport — she entered Sunday capturing simply 39.7% from the sector, together with 26.7% from 3-point vary.
“One of many guards was simply sitting in entrance of me the entire time, and the opposite lady that was really guarding me was behind me,” Crooks stated. “It made it actually, actually laborious for the guards to make post-entry passes as a result of they have been additionally each I believe a minimum of 6-foot with ups, in order that makes it troublesome to get it inside. It was a very good defensive plan by Baylor.”
Even late within the fourth, the Bears have been content material to let Williams stroll into 15-footers somewhat than let Crooks get entangled.
Crooks went scoreless within the fourth quarter, and her two shot makes an attempt have been a rushed fadeaway the one time she received a put up contact and a putback from an offensive rebound that received blocked. As a staff, the Cyclones managed simply 14 factors on 6 of 17 from the sector, because the Bears accomplished the comeback victory.
“Clearly made it laborious to get Audi the ball,” Iowa State coach Invoice Fennelly stated after the sport. “On the finish of the day, it is laborious to beat a extremely good staff enjoying two in opposition to 5, and that is principally what it got here all the way down to as we speak,”
Crooks completed with 26 factors on 11 of 20 from the sector, however simply 4 of them got here within the second half. Williams, in the meantime, had 28 factors on 11 of 28 capturing, together with 6 of 17 from 3-point vary — all of these marks have been career-highs for the junior guard. Everybody different Iowa State participant mixed for 16 factors on 5 of 23.
All through Crooks’ dominant begin to the season, there was loads of chatter about why opponents haven’t despatched extra double groups her approach. The apparent reply has been Iowa State’s elite 3-point capturing. The Cyclones entered Sunday capturing 38.2% from behind the arc as a staff, which ranked 14th within the nation, and three of their starters — Mackenzie Hare, Arianna Jackson and Addy Brown — have been capturing 43.2% or higher.
The Cyclones’ spacing of their four-out offense makes it troublesome to correctly execute a double with out giving up an open shot, nevertheless it has nonetheless been stunning that opposing coaches haven’t tried to take the ball out of Crooks’ palms extra typically.
Collen and the Bears took that concept one step additional. You do not have to fret about easy methods to get the ball out of her palms if she by no means has it within the first place. Plus, by ignoring Williams and face-guarding the Cyclones’ elite 3-point threats, the Bears exerted extra management over who had the ball and was pressured to shoot as a substitute of Crooks.
“We needed to discover a method to take Crooks away, and so we clearly made the choice to let Jada Williams shoot,” Collen stated after the sport. “Generally it appears loopy, as a result of she clearly made some, however on the finish of the day, while you take a look at the analytics, and Crooks shoots 70%, and Jackson and Hare shoot 50% from 3, we needed to decide our poison. I assumed we executed that at a excessive degree.”
Collen’s daring and daring technique helped her staff decide up its largest win of the season, and confirmed that it is doable to decelerate Crooks — even with out supernatural assist. Was this a one-off success that caught Iowa State off-guard, or will their upcoming opponents take a web page out of Baylor’s guide. And in the event that they do, how will the Cyclones reply?
Connelly would not anticipate to attend lengthy to seek out out.
“We’ll in all probability see it Wednesday,” he stated, when his staff travels to Ohio to tackle Cincinnati.
