LSU won “ugly” (Kim Mulkey’s words). Middle Tennessee rocked the chalk. And Audi Crooks made sure the country knows this season’s highly lauded freshman class includes a representative from Iowa State.
Crooks scored 40 points to help the No. 7 seed Cyclones rally from a 20-point deficit — the second-biggest comeback in NCAA tournament history — and eliminate 10th-seeded Maryland.
How historic was Crooks’ performance? Her 40 points are tied for the second most in an NCAA tournament debut. And they were the most by a Big 12 player in the NCAA tournament since Brittney Griner in 2011. Crooks is also the first player in NCAA tournament history with 40 points on 90% shooting. She was 18-for-20 from the field.
While Crooks seemingly couldn’t miss, Mulkey said defending champion LSU’s 70-60 win over Rice earlier Friday was “selfish” and “ugly.”
“That was a bad performance today. It was a lot of selfish play today, and it starts with me on getting them ready,” said Mulkey, whose Tigers committed a season-high 24 turnovers. “The goal is to survive and advance. And we did do that with an ugly performance.
“We better fix it before we play Middle Tennessee.”
Chalk held Friday except for one game: 11th-seeded Middle Tennessee eliminated No. 6…
