On the eve of March Madness, the second-leading scorer in NCAA women's basketball tells PEOPLE she "actually prefers" playing in hostile environments
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NEED TO KNOW
- Iowa State star Audi Crooks is ready for March Madness
- The standout junior is averaging 25.5 points per game, the second-highest in the country
- Crooks hopes to play professionally one day, and has one year left of college eligibility
Iowa State’s Audi Crooks is all about the away games.
In front of an unfriendly crowd is where the second-leading scorer in NCAA women’s basketball seems to thrive.
When the Cyclones visited TCU in Fort Worth in late February, the standout center pushed her way into the paint, exasperating defenders — and Horned Frog fans — on her way to scoring 22 points in 29 minutes.
“I kind of enjoy it if I’m being honest,” the 6-foot-3-inch Crooks, who averages 25.5 points per game, tells PEOPLE in an exclusive interview. “I weirdly prefer away games.”
It helps that the Algona, Iowa native is seeing her jersey worn all over Big 12 venues, as basketball fans can’t help but embrace the player, whose power and frame has some pundits dubbing her the “Lady Shaq.”
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“Shaq's definitely the best center to ever be in the game,” Crooks, 21, tells PEOPLE. “So to be compared to him, such a powerful player, such a skillful, back-to-the-basket post player, just a dominant force, it's really cool.”
Not that she misses many free throws, like the Big Fella once did. In Fort Worth, Crooks went 6-7 from the line, and is almost 74% from the charity stripe for the season.
As her profile has risen and her level of play has soared — she set an NCAA tournament record last season when she scored 40 in the first round, and she’s scored more than 40 points four times this season — Crooks has had to deal with opponents off the court who have weighed in on her body.
"Being strong is something that I'm proud of,” she recently told ESPN. “Being big is something that I'm proud of. I'm not going to shy away from those things."
Crooks tells PEOPLE that she started playing basketball seriously in the eighth grade, and that “always” being tall has made the game come easier — but still, she knows there’s room for improvement.
"Expanding my range a bit more and being more comfortable facing up as opposed to playing back to the basket, which I do the majority of the time in our system,” she says, when asked about areas of her game she hopes to fine-tune.
Crooks calls the past regular season one of “highs and lows, ups and downs, wins and losses,” but as the Cyclones look to make some noise during March Madness, the star has one more year of college eligibility and is keeping it all in perspective.
“I definitely have aspirations to keep playing and to keep the ball bouncing professionally,” she says. “I think every little girl who plays basketball dreams of being a professional and being able to do what you love as your job. I think it is one of the greatest blessings in the world.”
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