AMES — The first leg of the Cy-Hawk basketball doubleheader was supposed to be Iowa’s best chance at a victory.

But for the No. 12 Iowa women to take down No. 10 Iowa State in the battle of unbeatens on ESPN, it was going to have to at least play neutral in the battle for the paint.

And Audi Crooks and the Cyclones were just too much.

After going into halftime tied, Iowa dug a huge hole with a disastrous third quarter and saw its late rally fall short, 74-69, before a rowdy crowd at Hilton Coliseum on Dec. 10.

And this was just the warm-up for the home fans, who are revved up to see their No. 4-ranked Cyclone men take on Ben McCollum’s Hawkeyes on Thursday at 7 p.m.

For the Iowa women to have a chance, its best player to date, sophomore Ava Heiden, would have to play big. But she

See Full Page