Iowa State Women’s Basketball and the quiet edge of March: a team “stoked” for Thursday in Kansas City

The lights at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City can make even warmups feel like a spotlight, and iowa state women’s basketball is stepping into that brightness Thursday night with a first-round bye behind it and a familiar opponent waiting. The Cyclones enter the 2026 Big 12 Tournament as the seven seed and will play Arizona State in the second round for the second-straight season.

What is the matchup for Iowa State Women’s Basketball on Thursday in Kansas City?

Iowa State will face Arizona State at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri, on Thursday, March 5, 2026, at 5: 30 p. m. ET. The game will air on FS1 with play-by-play from Brenda VanLengen and analysis from Anne O’Neil. Audio coverage will be available on the Cyclone Radio Network with play-by-play from Noah Wolf and analysis from Jamie Steyer Johnson.

The tournament setup matters here: Iowa State earned a first-round bye and arrives in the bracket as the seven seed. Arizona State comes in at 15-15 overall and 8-9 in Big 12 play, while Iowa State brings a 22-8 overall record and a 10-8 Big 12 mark into the postseason.

Why does this Iowa State vs. Arizona State meeting feel familiar?

Thursday’s game marks the second year in a row Iowa State and Arizona State meet in the Big 12 Tournament’s second round. The last tournament meeting ended with Iowa State taking a 96-88 win over Arizona State, powered by 41 points from Addy Brown.

There is another pattern that frames the rematch: in each of the three matchups between the teams since Arizona State joined the Big 12 in the 2024-25 season, Iowa State has scored at least 90 points. For a tournament setting—where possessions tighten and legs can feel heavy—those totals hint at a game that can swing quickly, especially if foul shots and pace open the floor.

That offensive ceiling is not just a head-to-head quirk. Across 30 contests, the Cyclones have averaged 82. 8 points per game, a figure listed as the 12th-best scoring average in NCAA Division I women’s basketball.

What is driving Iowa State’s momentum entering the Big 12 Tournament?

The Cyclones closed the regular season with a 93-79 win at Kansas State on Sunday afternoon, a result that carried both production and texture: efficient shooting, rebounding control, and near-perfection at the line. Iowa State out-rebounded Kansas State 48-24 and finished 23-of-24 from the free throw line.

Audi Crooks led that win with 41 points on 16-of-19 shooting while making all nine free-throw attempts, registering her fourth 40-point performance of the season. Jada Williams added 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting and a perfect 7-of-7 at the line, while also delivering nine assists.

For iowa state women’s basketball, those details are more than a box score. Tournament games often hinge on whether a team can manufacture points when a defense stiffens. A performance built on high-percentage looks, rebounding margin, and free-throw reliability offers a blueprint that travels—even to a neutral floor under postseason pressure.

Which players and milestones define this Iowa State season?

Iowa State’s season has been marked by both individual distinction and shared recognition. The Cyclones are noted as the only Big 12 program to have three different players named the league’s Player of the Week this season: Addy Brown, Audi Crooks, and Jada Williams.

Brown’s season includes a piece of program history: the junior recorded the fourth triple-double in Iowa State program history against Norfolk State on Nov. 16, finishing with 11 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists. The note attached to it is telling—this was the first time in over a decade that a Cyclone achieved the feat.

Crooks, meanwhile, brings a scoring streak that has become its own form of clockwork: she has scored in double figures in 96 straight games. It is listed as the longest streak by a Cyclone women’s basketball player and the longest active streak in NCAA women’s basketball. The same record set places it in conference context as well, noting it as the longest by a Big 12 women’s basketball player since Brittney Griner’s 116-game run from 2010-2013.

Her broader scoring résumé has continued to stack milestones. Crooks became the program’s 35th 1, 000-point scorer last season, then joined three other Cyclones in the 2, 000-point club on Jan. 28. She reached 2, 000 points in 89 games, described as the fastest Big 12 women’s basketball player to do so, five games quicker than Courtney Paris of Oklahoma (94 games). She was also the fastest Cyclone to 1, 000 points, reaching that mark in 49 games.

Her career total of 2, 198 points is listed as trailing only Iowa State’s all-time leading scorer Ashley Joens after passing Angie Welle and Bridget Carleton during the Feb. 25 contest with Oklahoma State. She also holds the fourth best career scoring average (22. 5 ppg) among active DI women’s basketball players and ranks sixth overall in the NCAA.

How are Iowa State and Arizona State expected to be covered, and what comes next?

The game’s coverage plan is straightforward: FS1 will carry the broadcast with Brenda VanLengen on play-by-play and Anne O’Neil as analyst, while the Cyclone Radio Network will feature Noah Wolf on play-by-play and Jamie Steyer Johnson as analyst.

What comes next is what makes Kansas City feel different in March. Iowa State enters with a seed, a bye, and a recent road win that showcased both star power and discipline at the line. Arizona State enters with a. 500 overall record and a sub-. 500 Big 12 mark, but also with the knowledge that this specific matchup has turned into track meets—three straight meetings where Iowa State has cleared 90 points.

By Thursday night at 5: 30 p. m. ET, the details that live in press notes—82. 8 points per game, a 96-game double-figure streak, a triple-double that ended a decade-long program wait—will have to translate into the first possession, the first defensive stand, the first trip to the foul line. That is the hinge of tournament basketball: the moment when the season’s patterns either hold or crack, and iowa state women’s basketball finds out what its numbers feel like under the harsh, honest light of Kansas City.

Image caption (alt text): iowa state women’s basketball warms up at T-Mobile Center ahead of the Big 12 Tournament game against Arizona State.