2026 PHILLIPS 66 BIG 12 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 5, 2026

Bill Fennelly

Audi Crooks

Addy Brown

T-Mobile Center

Iowa State Cyclones

Postgame Press Conference

Arizona State - 77, Iowa State - 68

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Iowa State head coach Bill Fennelly, Audi Crooks and Addy Brown.

BILL FENNELLY: On behalf of everyone associated with our program at the Iowa State, I want to thank the Big 12, thank everyone in Kansas City for a phenomenal event as always.

Really want to congratulate Arizona State. I don't think there's any doubt that that's an NCAA Tournament team. They played great in every way, and they did a lot of things to us that we struggle with. Certainly want to congratulate them and want to thank everyone for their time.

Q. How much did the lack of 3-point shooting today really impact what you guys were trying to accomplish?

BILL FENNELLY: That's the difference in the game. I mean, I'm not a math major, I'm a math minor. 7-for-36 isn't going to cut it. And I'd say 30 of them were wide open. That's the game. That's the great thing and the frustrating thing about basketball. It's a shot maker's game, and we didn't make them tonight.

Q. Audi, how difficult was it to kind of handle the pressure that Arizona State brought and just jockeying for position in the post?

AUDI CROOKS: Offensively or defensively?

Q. Offensively.

AUDI CROOKS: Honestly, it was really just a lot of -- when I was on defense, when I was guarding, it was a lot of one-on-one, but shout-out to their post player, No. 14, she's got that mid-range down pat. And that's something that we say if we're going to give up anything it's going to be that. And if we can get a hand up and you're one step away and they make it, we kind of gotta live with that.

I think they took advantage of the gray area when we went into our zone, and we just kind of had to live with it.

Q. But for you, how much of a trouble issue was it for you --

AUDI CROOKS: It was very packed in the paint for me tonight. Yeah. Let's just leave it at that time.

Q. Addy, I believe you were 1-for-7 in the first half. I saw you at halftime. I think you hit five in a row during halftime and then came back out and it still wasn't falling. Where does that leave you mentally going into the tournament?

ADDY BROWN: It's frustrating. But I mean shooters shoot. I mean, you're always told to take the next shot. That's what I was going to do regardless.

So just gotta stay aggressive. I mean, if I go into the tournament shying away from that, teams are going to take advantage of that. So I'm just going to put up the extra shots, put in the extra work, get my legs under me, and it will fall.

Q. Audi, seemed like their game plan was to double- and triple-team you, make you guys shoot 3s from the outside. How much of a learning experience was that for you, and how much are you taking into the tournament from that?

AUDI CROOKS: Well, I've seen double, triples all year. So we kind of knew what to expect with them defensively. And we practiced the lob passes in from the perimeter as well, so we knew that was going to be coming. But, yeah, that's all I'm going to say as well.

Q. Right after halftime, you came out, got Audi a quick score, got the first field goal for her for the game. What other kind of adjustments did you make at halftime? Seemed like no matter what was going on, they had an answer. We saw some different looks, at least, in the third quarter.

BILL FENNELLY: We tried to enter the ball from different angles. We tried to run -- kind of misdirection stuff, stuff we've run all year. I thought we were a little late in some post entries.

But, again, when they're going to put that many people in the lane, you make a couple of those 3s, then that's going to change -- they can't just keep doing it.

But we never made them pay for it. That's a credit to them. It was a great game plan. And if you're going to make people shoot, you know, you make them or you don't.

I would tell them to shoot it again. I'm not changing anything. When you're open, like Addy said, you've got to shoot the ball. And, unfortunately, for us tonight, the ball wasn't going in the basket.

We got Audi some looks. We got her to the free-throw line. But our spacing was okay, but you still gotta make that shot. And that's basketball.

Q. That first quarter, what just went wrong when they went on that big run?

BILL FENNELLY: Everything. We missed -- the second possession of the game, we had three straight wide-open 3s, missed them. We had a couple of unforced turnovers.

And then defensively, we got lost a couple of times early. And they came out and made some shots early and kind of put us on our heels. And we just never could recover from it. Again, it's a credit to them for the way they played.

Our kids competed. We got back where we had a chance a couple times to make one shot to at least feel like -- we had two wide-open 3s down four in the first half and missed them both. Then you're down eight. And you're just grinding to come back.

But, yeah, that was probably the worst five minutes we've played in a long time.

Q. Addy, what do you kind of think was the reason why the 3-point shooting just wasn't working tonight?

ADDY BROWN: I don't know, we usually make those shots. You wish you could get them back, but you can't. I can't tell you. I mean, they were all open. A few of them were literally in and out right there.

I don't know. Maybe we have to get our feet settled earlier or what. But I think we're going to have another chance hopefully in the tournament, and we'll just make sure to take advantage of those shots and do what we do.

Q. How do you guys feel about things now heading into Selection Sunday?

BILL FENNELLY: I mean, I think, again, it's kind of like at home. My opinion doesn't really matter much. I don't think there's any question our numbers warrant being in the NCAA Tournament. Arizona State should be in. I think BYU's going to be right there.

I think our league -- and you lose one game in a conference tournament -- again, I don't know. I mean, I feel very confident that we're a team that deserves to be in the NCAA Tournament based on what we've done and our metrics. If that changes because you lose one game in the conference tournament, then so be it.

But it will be, we'll wait and see what happens. But I just hope, again, like I said, hopefully this tournament gives our league even more credit that maybe they haven't gotten in the past. You see what people are doing -- again, what Arizona State did, what BYU did, Kansas and Colorado both.

This league is hard. So I honestly believe that, as hard as it is for us to lose, I hope it's a sign to the people that, if they watch the games, they'll be, like, okay, those are some really good teams, and hopefully we'll hear our name on the 15th.