Audi Crooks believes Iowa State is a different team as March Madness begins

Iowa State’s women’s basketball team has had somewhat of a strange season.

The Cyclones started the year on a 14-game winning streak, a stretch that included a victory over rival Iowa and other wins over Indiana, Marquette and Kansas.

And then Iowa State lost five in a row, and suddenly, fewer people were talking about star center Audi Crooks as a National Player of the Year contender and questioned whether the Cyclones would even make the Women's NCAA Tournament. Iowa State then won seven of its next eight after that slide, and then lost three of four games to end the regular season.

The Cyclones now begin their March Madness run on Saturday as a No. 8 seed, facing No. 9 Syracuse at 5:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2 in Storrs, Connecticut.

Crooks and point guard Jada Williams believe there’s more to the Cyclones than the numbers that pop up next to their team’s name on ESPN broadcasts. Heading into the most crucial game of the season, the guard-center duo is confident.