Presbyterian's Kishyah Anderson headlines final women's basketball starting five

These women's basketball players posted big-time performances and were named to the final NCAA.com starting five of the 2024-25 season. 

Kishyah Anderson, Presbyterian

Junior forward Kishyah Anderson averaged 33.5 points over two games last week, including scoring a program record 40 points in Presbyterian's regular season finale.

Despite dropping a 91-81 decision to Gardner-Webb on March 1, Anderson scored 40 points while shooting 18-for-32 from the field. She recorded two steals as well. Anderson's 40-point performance set the Presbyterian - Division I era single-game scoring record. Anderson is the sixth player in Big South Conference history to score 40-plus points in a conference game.

Against UNC Asheville on February 26, Anderson scored 27 points while connecting on 10-for-18 from the field in a 67-60 loss. She grabbed five rebounds with three blocks and three steals.

On the season, Anderson averages a team-leading 15 points per game, third overall in the Big South, while tallying 13 double-figure scoring games.

Presbyterian, 6-23 overall and 4-12 in conference play, will open the Big South Conference tournament play on March 5 against UNC Asheville.

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Audi Crooks, Iowa State

Iowa State sophomore center Audi Crooks averaged 32.5 points and 9.0 rebounds in the final week of conference play in leading the Cyclones to a pair of victories.

Crooks poured in a team-high 29 points on 9-of-12 shooting and had a career-high 11 free throws in a 98-73 win at UCF on Feb. 25, then followed up with a season-high 36 points on 14 field goals in a Cyclone 85-63 win against No. 14 Kansas State on Sunday afternoon. The ranked win over Kansas State gave Iowa State a marquee victory ahead of the Big 12 Conference tournament.

Crooks finished the season with back-to-back games shooting 75 percent or better from the floor. She also pulled down 10 rebounds against the Wildcats to tally her 10th double-double of the season and 18th of her career.

Iowa State, 21-10 overall and 12-6 in Big 12 play, will begin their quest for a Big 12 Championship on March 6 in Kansas City. Iowa State enters the Big 12 Championship as the seven-seed and will face the winner of Cincinnati and Arizona State game.

Toby Fournier, Duke

Duke freshman Toby Fournier turned in a pair of stellar performances in a 2-0 week for the Blue Devils that featured back-to-back wins over top-25 opponents. The rookie averaged 23.5 points and 8.0 rebounds while shooting 65.4 percent from the field and 80 percent at the charity stripe.

The Toronto, Ontario, Canada native poured in a career-high 28 points and pulled down six rebounds while spearheading the Blue Devils to a 71-57 win at No. 24 Florida State in the regular season finale on March 2, with the win locking up the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. Fournier shot 11-of-15 from the floor and 6-of-8 at the free throw line.

Fournier's performance against the Seminoles was one for the Duke record books as her 28 points tied for the second-most points off the bench by a Blue Devil and the eighth-most points by a Duke freshman, while the 11 field goals tied for the sixth-most by a Duke freshman all-time.

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With her 19 games in double figures this season, Fournier is currently tied for 10th all-time on the Duke freshman charts for most double-figure games. Additionally, Sunday marked her ninth 20-point outing of the season — one game shy of tying the Duke freshman record of 10 held by Blue Devil greats Alana Beard and Chris Moreland.

In the 68-53 win over No. 8 North Carolina on Feb. 27, Fournier notched her second career double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds, with six coming on the offensive glass. She hit her shots at a 55-percent (6-of-11) clip and knocked down 6-of-7 shots from the foul line, while also blocking two shots.

Duke, 23-7 overall and 14-4 in ACC play, next turns its attention to the ACC tournament slated for March 5-9 in Greensboro, NC. The Blue Devils will play Friday, March 7 against either Clemson, Louisville or Stanford.

Kitty Henderson, Columbia

Columbia senior point guard Kitty Henderson became the second Lion in program history to record a triple-double, doing so with 19 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in a 70-44 victory against Brown on Feb. 28. Henderson went 8-of-15 from the floor and added four steals with just one turnover.

A native of Sydney, Australia, Henderson had nine points, eight boards and three assists in Saturday's win over Yale. Senior teammate Cecelia Collins recorded a triple-double (16 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists) in that game, making Henderson and Collins just the second set of teammates to record triple-doubles in back-to-back games in NCAA Division I women's basketball history.

For the week, Henderson averaged a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds with 6.5 assists and 2.0 steals, shooting  48 percent from the floor (12-25).

Henderson climbed into the top 10 in Ivy League women's basketball history in career assists (472). At Columbia, she ranks No. 7 all-time in points (1,288), No. 8 in rebounds (674), No. 2 in steals (177), No. 2 in games played (121) and No. 2 in games started (112).

With two wins over the weekend, Columbia (21-5, 12-1 Ivy) clinched the No. 1 seed for the Ivy League tournament to be held March 14-15 in Providence, Rhode Island. The Lions have guaranteed no less than a share of their third straight Ivy title and will next host Cornell on March 8. With a win, the Lions would be outright Ivy regular season champions for the first time in school history.

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Arianna Smith, Dayton

Dayton senior Arianna Smith recorded her 12th and 13th double-doubles of the season while averaging 16.5 points and 14.0 rebounds in Dayton's two wins over Saint Joseph's and St. Bonaventure last week.

The senior forward, who became the all-time leader in offensive rebounds in program history last week, shot 63.2 percent from the field, 81.8 percent from the free throw line, and had 11 offensive rebounds in the two-game stretch.

Smith had 13 points as Dayton defeated Saint Joseph's 74-65 on Feb. 26. She followed with 20 points as the Flyers closed the regular season at St. Bonaventure with a 67-57 victory.
 
The Flyers, 17-12 overall and 11-7 Atlantic 10 Conference play, finished the regular season on a three-game winning streak and open up the 2025 A-10 Conference Championship this Thursday, March 6, facing the winner of VCU and La Salle in the second round of the tournament.