Upsets reign, win streaks tainted in dramatic weekend of women’s hoops

This weekend’s polar vortex has dumped heaps of snow, wind and madness across the women’s college basketball landscape, with top-15 squads Baylor, Virginia Tech, Texas, LSU and UCLA falling in conference play.

Here’s a look back at the biggest storylines from the weekend.

“Hilton Magic” topples No. 4 Baylor

Even with the typically deafening Ames crowd diluted by inclement weather, Hilton Coliseum still worked its magic against No. 4 Baylor on Saturday afternoon. Audi Crooks scored a game-winning layup with 26 seconds remaining, Hannah Belanger converted a clutch pair at the line and Iowa State stormed back late to defeat the Bears 66-63, its third-straight win over Baylor. 

A top-5 upset hardly appeared possible early on as the Cyclones carried a nearly six-minute scoring drought into the second quarter to go with a 13-point deficit. Crooks, who excelled Saturday with 26 points, snapped the dry spell with a jumper as the Cyclones started to manufacture better looks against America’s 13th-best defense, but a late 7-0 spurt from Baylor extended its lead back to double-digits moments before halftime. 

Casting away a sloppy first half with two turnovers on 0-2 shooting, Emily Ryan exited the locker room inspired, serving up two assists and nailing a jumper to bring the Cyclones within a possession. Belanger nailed a triple next possession to tie the game at 39 and would beat the third-quarter buzzer off an assist from Ryan, bringing ISU within two to start the final period of play. 

The Cyclone defense slammed the door shut in the fourth quarter, holding the Bears to just nine points and allowing Crooks to win the game with a heady post move and a finish through contact. Iowa State improves to a perfect 5-0 in Big 12 play, standing with Kansas State atop the conference. 

Ayoka Lee smashes program records to notch No. 10 Texas

In their Friday evening matchup, it was the Wildcats that kept the advantage to extend their win streak to 11 games, 61-58.

Senior center Ayoka Lee got the offensive momentum cooking, scoring the game’s first five points and banking in a team-high 21 points and 10 boards. Lee also surpassed 2,000 career points in the game (2,017), becoming the fourth player to do so in program history. 

The big also tallied four blocks on the night, setting the K-State school record with 284 career blocks. Jaelyn Glenn and Serena Sundell also reached double-digit scoring, netting 10 and 12 respective points with a combined nine rebounds.

Kansas State out-shot Texas 44% to 35%. Though neither team shot particularly well from three, K-State scored two more triples (4-14) than Texas (2-11). Madison Booker led the Longhorns with 23 points but was held to shooting just 27.6% from the field.

The No. 12 Wildcats have now registered two wins over AP top-10 opponents, after beating Iowa…