AMES — The Iowa State women’s basketball team has already played two games without one of its best players. Now the Cyclones will have to go even longer without her.
Iowa State announced on Jan. 12 that junior star Addy Brown will be out “indefinitely as she continues to recover from a lower body injury.”
“There’s nothing worse than a kid getting hurt,” Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly said. “And you only have a finite amount of time in your life where you get to be a college basketball player. Obviously some of those opportunities won’t be there anymore.”
Brown is working with the Iowa State medical team to return to the court, according to a news release from the school. Brown has missed Iowa State’s last two games.
Fennelly was asked Monday if Brown would be able to come back at some point this season.
“I don’t know,” Fennelly said. “I guess the best thing for me is just to say we’re going to just defer to what we’ve already said and let the healing begin and hopefully something positive will come of it.”
Brown’s absence has already had a big impact on her team. She was sorely missed with the Cyclones suffering upset losses at Cincinnati and at home vs. West Virginia.
Her departure is a gigantic loss for the Cyclones, who were picked to finish second in the Big 12 Conference before the season started and had their sights set on rebounding from struggles last season.
Brown, a versatile forward, is a big reason why expectations were so high. The 6-foot-2 Brown helped lead the team to 14 straight wins to begin the season.
She then struggled in a win at Houston and scored just two points following a loss at home to Baylor. After the game, Fennelly revealed that Brown was dealing with an injured back.
Brown, a McDonald’s All-American in high school, has been a big contributor ever since she stepped on campus at Iowa State, earning a starting spot for the Cyclones as a freshman.
The Derby, Kansas, native has started all 83 games she’s played in during her Iowa State career, averaging 14 points, 8.1 rebounds and 5.3 assists during her first three seasons in college.
Brown was enjoying another strong start to this season, tallying the school’s first triple-double in more than a decade during a win against Norfolk State. Through 15 games this season, Brown was averaging 13.1 points, 9 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game.
Fennelly said Brown, who wants to be a coach someday, has already begun helping the Cyclones in that department. Iowa State forward Alisa Williams said Brown has been on the sidelines with a notebook trying to help her teammates prepare.
“Now she gets to coach and help us on the sideline and do the kind of things she can do,” Fennelly said. “We talk every day (that) there’s always something you can do to impact success, and her impact will not be playing. It’ll be a different role. Hopefully we can find something that she’ll enjoy and can benefit her and our team.”
Her injury is the second big one for the Cyclones, who are also without junior guard Arianna Jackson. Jackson suffered a knee injury in Iowa State’s loss at Cincinnati. Fennelly said recently that he expected Jackson would be sidelined “for a while.”
In the meantime, the Cyclones need to find a way to get back on track without two big contributors.
“The only thing that we can really do is come closer together,” said Iowa State center Audi Crooks.
Tommy Birch, the Register’s sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He’s the 2018, 2020, 2023 and 2025 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State’s Addy Brown out indefinitely with lower body injury
Reporting by Tommy Birch, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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