PALO ALTO, CALIF. — Audi Crooks took a moment to herself, standing near the sideline while her teammates warmed up before she played in the first NCAA tournament game of her career Friday night. The Iowa State freshman closed her eyes, tugged on her shooting shirt and breathed deep.

She would need every bit of that oxygen before putting on an absolute show inside Maples Pavilion on Stanford’s campus. The all-American honorable mention center was an immovable force for 34 minutes as she poured in 40 points on 18-for-20 shooting and added 12 rebounds to lead the No. 7 seed Cyclones to a come-from-behind 93-86 victory over No. 10 seed Maryland.

Crooks fought back tears as she talked about her pregame routine, which includes taking a moment to think about her late father. She became the fourth player in program history to score 40 points and was three points shy of setting the Cyclones’ record.

“Before every game, I just try to take a moment,” Crooks said. “I pray and kind of seek guidance from my father who passed away when I was 16 in 2021. I just try to kind of take a second and ground myself and tap into my spiritual side and just know that everything’s going to be okay and he’s got the best seat in the house.”

Crooks’s big night led to Maryland’s first loss in the first round of the NCAA tournament since Coach Brenda Frese took over the program in 2002. It was a punch to the stomach after the Terrapins put together their best first quarter of the season and led by 20 points shortly before halftime. Iowa State’s comeback win was the second largest in NCAA women’s tournament history, and it ensured Maryland (19-14) failed to reach 20 wins for the first time since 2003-04.

Maryland couldn’t have asked for a better start to the game. Bri McDaniel set the tone in the opening moments with a pair of jumpers and defensive deflections to fluster the Iowa State offense. Then the threes started falling. First it was Shyanne Sellers from the top of the arc. Then McDaniel. And that’s when Allie Kubek caught fire.

The entire season has been a bit of a roller coaster for Kubek, but she found her range — and her aggression — at the perfect time. She made five threes in the first half on her way to a career-high 29 points, finishing 7 for 8 from behind the arc. The seven threes were a program record for an NCAA tournament game.

Maryland’s coaching staff implored the Terps to relax and enjoy the moment during practices this week. “Why not us” was mentioned repeatedly. Kubek seemed to take that to heart, and she didn’t hesitate to let the ball fly. Maryland used a 10-2 run near the end of the first quarter to take a 33-20 lead after the opening 10 minutes.

“Me and Coach [Frese] had a conversation before today’s game just about confidence,” Kubek said. “I had a couple lulls in the season just because my confidence was low. The coaching staff and my teammates instill confidence in me every day. And just today, I just felt hot, so I just kept shooting them, to be honest.”

Iowa State (21-11) got back within single digits early in the second quarter with a 7-0 run, then Kubek hit two more threes during a 10-0 stretch to push the lead to 48-29. After the lead peaked at 50-30 with 1:28 left in the first half, the Terps went into halftime with a 52-36 advantage.

The third quarter, however, was an absolute disaster for the Terps. Iowa State tweaked its defense to keep Crooks closer to the basket, and the shots stopped falling. Whereas Crooks was dominant with 18 points in the first half, Maryland kept the Cyclones’ perimeter players in check. That switched after halftime as Iowa State shot 7 for 12 from behind the arc in the second half after going 2 for 10 in the first. All the while, Crooks seemed to catch every entry pass for layup after layup despite Maryland’s efforts.

Shyanne Sellers finished with 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists in the loss, while Faith Masonius chipped in 14 points.

“He went from the man to the zone in the second half,” said Frese, who called Iowa State Coach Bill Fennelly, a mentor of hers, one of the best X’s and O’s coaches in the country. “A lot of things impacted us in the third quarter. Our defense impacted us. I thought they got a lot more aggressive. Getting downhill, the foul trouble we were in in the third quarter really impacted us with such a short bench.

“We were hopeful that we’d continue to shoot that well, but that’s not who we’ve been all season. So we really talked about crashing the glass and being able to move on offense. And for whatever reason, we weren’t able to do that.”

It was a bittersweet moment for the two coaches because Fennelly hired Frese as an assistant coach in 1995. The two stayed close over the years, and Fennelly referred to her as part of his family multiple times.

“Awful, it’s just awful,” Fennelly said. “Brenda’s part of my family. As excited as you are for your players and fans, you do look down to the other bench, and their emotions are a little different right now. I know that’s what the tournament’s about, and it’s a story, but yeah, it was awful.”