Who is the best women’s basketball player from Iowa?
As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, USA TODAY Sports will celebrate the 250 greatest American sports figures of all time. Alongside that national recognition, the USA TODAY Network will spotlight the roots of the country’s sports culture: the high school athletes and sports figures who shaped communities and defined their states.
During this process, we will examine athletes in their respective sports. We started with football, wrestling, track and field, volleyball, softball and baseball, now we’ll move on to basketball.
These are our picks for the women’s basketball stars who defined Iowa. Many of the 10 athletes were standouts in their youth before reaching even greater heights at the collegiate and international levels.
Vote below on the best of these 10, or even write in a candidate that we overlooked or you feel strongly about.
Players listed in alphabetical order by last name.
Lorri Bauman, Des Moines East
In high school, Bauman established herself in a league of her own, recording 3,010 points over four years with the Scarlets and helping Des Moines East to a state championship in 1979. She continued her career at Drake, where she scored 3,115 total points — becoming the first woman in NCAA history to hit the 3,000-point milestone. She also pulled down 1,050 rebounds.
Forty-two years later, she still holds the NCAA Division I record for field goals made in a game, netting 27 against Missouri State in 1984. Once the record-holder for career points by a women’s basketball player in NCAA Division I, Bauman is now seventh all-time.
Tammi Blackstone, Cherokee
The 6-4 basketball star at Cherokee was an All-American in high school. She scored nearly 2,000 points and recorded nearly 1,000 rebounds in her high school career, and she stayed local for college, joining the Drake women’s basketball team.
During her time with the Bulldogs, the program made three trips to the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the final four of the WNIT. Blackstone still holds the Bulldogs’ record in field goal percentage (.624).
Lisa Brinkmeyer, Hubbard-Radcliffe
She competed in six-on-six basketball in Iowa, leading Hubbard-Radcliffe to the 1993 state title — the final six-on-six title before the state transitioned to the five-player game. She finished her high school career with 3,615 points and was named 1993 Miss Basketball.
Brinkmeyer went on to play at Drake, where she led the Bulldogs to three straight appearances in the NCAA Tournament. She stayed in basketball after her playing days were over, working as an assistant at Drake under Lisa Bluder. She later joined the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union, where she worked as an administrator for over two decades.
She died in 2023 after battling brain cancer for over a year.
Caitlin Clark, Dowling Catholic
There is no denying that Clark was a standout athlete during her time with the Maroons, totaling 2,547 points in four years — the fourth-most in Iowa five-on-five history. But she really became a household name while playing for the Iowa Hawkeyes.
She became the fastest Division I player ever (men’s or women’s) in the last 20-plus seasons to reach 1,500 career points, and she scored 3,951 points during her four-year career, making her the all-time leading scorer across NCAA Division I men’s and women’s basketball. She was the first Division I player to record 3,800-plus points, 1,000-plus assists, and 950-plus rebounds over a career.
As a junior, she led Iowa to its first national championship game, which the Hawkeyes lost to LSU.
Clark earned numerous accolades while at Iowa, including but not limited to: Naismith College Player of the Year (2023, 2024), AP Player of the Year (2023, 2024), Nancy Lieberman Award (2022, 2023, 2024), Big Ten Player of the Year (2022, 2023, 2024), and unanimous first-team All-American (2022, 2023, 2024).
She was the first overall pick in the 2024 WNBA draft and has spent the past few seasons with the Indiana Fever. She was named Rookie of the Year in 2024, and Clark is a two-time WNBA All-Star (2024, 2025).
Audi Crooks, Bishop Garrigan
The Golden Bears star finished her high school career with 2,734 points, the third-most in five-on-five history in Iowa. Her 889 points scored in 2023 are the most by any player in a single season. Her 1,339 rebounds are the fourth-most among any Iowa athlete since the switch to five-player.
Crooks led BIshop Garrigan to back-to-back state championships (2022, 2023). A multi-sport athlete, she also won three straight shot put state titles and won the discus state title as a junior.
She continued her career at Iowa State, where she broke several program records and became the team’s first-ever freshman All-American. Last season, as a junior, she was the nation’s second-leading scorer with 25.8 points per game. She earned second-team All-American honors as a junior.
Crooks transferred to Oklahoma State in the offseason.
Denise Long, Union-Whitten
Her scoring record was untouchable for over a decade, with Long racking up an unprecedented 6,250 points over her four-year career in the 1960s. She also led Union-Whitten to a state championship in 1968.
She made such an impact in high school that Franklin Mieuli of the San Francisco Warriors selected her in the 13th round of the NBA Draft, making her the first woman to be drafted by an NBA team. The pick was later voided.
Lynne Lorenzen, Ventura
Lorenzen led her team to a perfect 31-0 record and the 1987 six-on-six girls state basketball championship, and she took down Long’s record in the process. Lorenzen set the national record for points scored in a girls high school basketball career with 6,726, besting Long’s mark by nearly 500 points.
She was named the Naismith women’s high school player of the year and earned All-America honors on seven different teams as a senior. She went on to play at Iowa State.
Elle Ruffridge, Pocahontas Area
She owns the state’s all-time career scoring record for five-player girls basketball, totaling 2,951 points. Ruffridge also set records for assists (802) and 3-pointers (455). She helped Pocahontas Area to back-to-back state championships as a junior and senior, and she was named Iowa Gatorade Player of the Year in both seasons.
Ruffridge continued her career at Missouri State, where she helped the Bears to the Sweet 16 twice.
Kiah Stokes, Linn-Mar
After a standout high school career with the Lions — which included 1,239 rebounds, the sixth-most in Iowa history — Stokes joined the women’s basketball team at the University of Connecticut. With the Huskies, she was a part of four consecutive Final Four teams and won three-straight national championships (2013, 2014, 2015).
She was selected with the No. 11 pick by the New York Liberty in the 2015 WNBA Draft. She played seven seasons with the Liberty before moving her career abroad, and Stokes has since returned to the WNBA. She is a three-time WNBA Champion, winning with the Las Vegas Aces in 2022, 2023 and 2025.
Stokes currently plays for the Golden State Valkyries.
Connie Yori, Ankeny
She earned the title of the first-ever Miss Iowa basketball player after a successful high school career, which included leading Ankeny to the 1980 state championship. She earned a spot in the IGHSAU Hall of Fame for both basketball and softball.
After playing college basketball at Creighton, she went into coaching, with stops at Loras College, Creighton and Nebraska — highlighted by WBCA Coach of the Year, AP College Basketball Coach of the Year, Naismith College Coach of the Year and Kay Yow awards.
Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Who’s the best all-time women’s basketball player from Iowa? VOTE
Reporting by Alyssa Hertel, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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By Alyssa Hertel, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
