WBB: Cyclones Set to Take on Washington

[Jeremy]

WBB: Cyclones Set to Take on Washington
Media Relations

AMES, Iowa - The Iowa State women’s basketball team earned an at-large berth and a No. 6 seed in the 2007 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, where the Cyclones will face 11th-seeded Washington at 11 a.m. Saturday at Williams Arena in Minneapolis, Minn. ... ISU fell in the title game of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship, 67-60, to 11th-ranked Oklahoma, snapping an eight-game ISU winning streak ... the Cyclones have won nine out of their last 11 contests and defeated three other postseason teams to make it to the Big 12 title game, including 13th-ranked Texas A&M (NCAA-4 seed), Nebraska (NCAA-9 seed) and Kansas State (WNIT) ... Iowa State will make its second NCAA appearance in the last three years, and the Cyclones’ eighth trip over the past 11 seasons, with all coming under the direction of head coach Bill Fennelly ... the Cyclones have been invited to postseason play in 10 out of the last 11 seasons ... Iowa State is one of six teams from the Big 12 Conference to make the Big Dance ... senior All-America candidate Lyndsey Medders broke the ISU career record for assists and passed out her 700th dime last Saturday against Oklahoma ... senior Megan Ronhovde became the 18th player in ISU history to record 1,000 career points, eclipsing the mark at Baylor ... ISU head coach Bill Fennelly earned his 250th victory at the helm of the Cyclone program with the win over Missouri on Feb. 4, and his 400th career win in the season opener vs. Cal State Fullerton ... the Cyclones are now 25-8 overall and finished 10-6 in the Big 12 to tie Nebraska for fourth place in the final Big 12 standings ... the Cyclones claimed their eighth 20-win season in school history and the seventh under Fennelly ... Iowa State has reached 25 wins for the first time since 2001 when it went 27-6 ... the Cyclones have earned 25 wins in five seasons in school history, all under Fennelly ... ISU finished the home season with a 15-1 record at Hilton, while ISU was 5-6 in true road games ... the Cyclones wrapped up the non-conference slate at 12-1 overall ... Iowa State is 0-2 all-time against Washington, but is 8-4 against teams seeded below the Cyclones in the NCAA Tournament ... Medders missed games at Nebraska and Baylor and played limited minutes against Missouri due to a minor concussion ... Medders is ISU’s leading scorers with 12.8 points per game and ranks in the top 10 nationally with 6.4 assists per game ... Nicky Wieben is ISU’s second leading scorer with 11.8 ppg and has 1.8 blocks per game ... Toccara Ross continues to lead the Cyclones on the glass with 7.4 rpg.

On the Tube

The Iowa State-Washington game in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, March 17, will be televised nationally by ESPN2 in its entirety in the Ames area ... Bob Picozzi (play-by-play), Brenda VanLengen (color) and Stephanie Ready (sideline) will be calling the action.

On the Air

The game will be broadcast live on the Cyclone Radio Network (1430 AM in Ames) ... every game is broadcast live on the internet at Cyclones.com ... broadcasts will be streamed by Yahoo! Sports and will cost $4.95 per month, which will include broadcasts of football, men’s basketball and the Coaches shows.

The Tournament Field

No. 6 Iowa State joins No. 3 Georgia, No. 11 Washington and No. 14 Belmont in Minneapolis for the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament ... the four teams opposite of Iowa State in the Dallas Regional also happen to be in Minneapolis, meaning that the two winners out of the Minneapolis second round games will face off in Dallas in the Sweet 16 ... Minneapolis is the only first and second round site that has that scenario ... the other four teams stationed in Minneapolis are No. 2 Purdue, No. 7 Georgia Tech, No. 10 DePaul and No. 15 Oral Roberts.

Last Time Out

No. 11 Oklahoma used a pair of key second-half scoring runs to help defeat Iowa State, 67-60, in the title game of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship ... the game was played in front of record crowd for a Big 12 Women’s Tournament game, with over 90 percent of the 12,413 fans wearing Crimson and Cream of the Sooners ... ISU, which ended its eight-game winning streak, is now 2-2 all-time in Big 12 Championship title games ... Oklahoma set the tone early, running out to an 11-0 lead in the first three minutes of the contest ... the Cyclones missed their first seven shots until Rachel Pierson got ISU on the board with a lay-in at the 16:11 mark ... ISU weathered the early Sooner storm, cutting the lead to just one point (19-18) at the 5:57 mark behind a 9-0 run ... Alison Lacey and Lyndsey Medders hit a couple of treys in the run while the Cyclone defense held firm, holding the Sooners scoreless for over seven minutes ... OU finally ended the drought when Courtney Paris muscled her way down low for a hoop ... ISU tied the game for the first time at 21-all when Megan Ronhovde canned a trey from the corner with 4:20 left in the first period ... ISU took its first lead and held a 26-23 halftime advantage after Lacey broke down the Sooner defense twice on a pair of driving lay-ins in the final two minutes of the first stanza ... OU made eight of its first 11 shots from the floor, but ended the first half making just 3-of-its-last-27 attempts from the field to shoot 28.9 percent in the opening period ... ISU was not much better, however, hitting just 30 percent of its first-half shots (9-30 FG) ... the Cyclones came out of the locker room as the aggressor to begin the second period ... ISU quickly opened up its biggest lead at 33-25 behind two baskets by Toccara Ross ... ISU’s lead quickly evaporated, as the Sooners mounted an 11-0 run to take a 38-35 edge with 12:20 remaining ... Leah Rush and Erin Higgins both hit treys for the Sooners in the spurt ... OU padded its lead to eight points (50-42) at the 8-minute mark after Kendra Moore drilled treys on back-to-back possessions, which was part of an ensuing 15-0 run to bust open a 57-42 cushion with under seven minutes remaining ... ISU showed it still had a pulse by draining three-straight 3-pointers from the hands of Medders, Heather Ezell and Lacey to close the gap to 57-51 with 3:15 left ... Paris then responded with two-straight buckets to shift the momentum in favor of OU ... Paris finished the game with 23 points and 21 boards ... Lacey and Medders led ISU, scoring 17 points each, as Medders earned a spot on the all-tournament team ... the duo combined for 6-of-10 from beyond the arc, helping the Cyclones hit 11 for the game ... the Cyclones have made 10 or more 3-pointers in their last three games ... Megan Ronhovde chipped in with eight points and a season-high nine boards for the Cyclones.

About the Cyclones

Iowa State has used six different starting lineups this season and lost for the first time in 13 games with the starting lineup of Medders, Lacey, Ronhovde, Ross and Wieben in the last game against Oklahoma ... ISU is 25-8 on the year and finished 10-6 in the Big 12 ... ISU was 15-1 at Hilton Coliseum this year and is 5-1 on neutral courts ... ISU is outscoring opponents by a margin of +7.7, and is averaging 67.8 ppg ... the Cyclones are shooting 42.1 percent from the field and 34.4 percent from three-point range ... ISU has outrebounded opponents with a +3 margin ... Iowa State is in its 34th season of women’s basketball and holds a 496-470 overall record ... the 2006-07 Iowa State roster has 14 active players on it, the largest number on an ISU roster to start the season since 2001-02 when the Cyclones had 15 players ... the Cyclones are coming off an 18-13 season in which they made it to the second round of the WNIT.

About the Huskies

The University of Washington enters the NCAA Tournament as the 11th seed in the Dallas Region and carries an 18-12 overall record ... the Huskies finished fourth in the final Pac-10 standings with an 11-7 record, but fell to fifth-seed USC, 81-77, in the first round of the Pac-10 Tournament on Saturday, March 3 ... the loss in the tournament followed a three-game winning streak to end the regular season ... Washington has wins over Northern Iowa (81-63) on Nov. 26, Texas A&M (65-59) on Dec. 6, and Florida State (84-65) on Dec. 17 ... eight players have started seven or more games for the Huskies this season and 10 different players have started at least one ... Cameo Hicks leads the Huskies with 17.1 points and 5.3 rebounds per contest ... Andrea Plouffe is the only other Husky to average double figures at 10 ppg ... as a team, Washington is averaging 71.8 points at a 39.4 percent clip, while hitting 4.7 threes per game with a 31.2 percent accuracy from beyond the arc ... head coach June Daugherty is in her 11th season at UW with a 191-138 record, and a 314-212 mark over her 18 seasons as a head coach.

The Series

Iowa State has met Washington twice before, falling in both meetings, during the regular season in 2002-03 and 2003-04 ... the Cyclones dropped a one-point decision, 64-63, in 2002 in Washington and suffered a 76-55 loss in Ames in 2003 ... in the 2003 game, Medders and Ronhovde, who were both freshmen, went 0-7 from the field ... Washington was ranked 24th during that meeting and ISU got no closer than seven points in the second half ... the two teams have never met during the postseason.

Who’s Got Next?

The winner of the Iowa State-Washington game will advance to face the winner of No. 3 Georgia and No. 14 Belmont ... the second round game will take place at 6 or 8:30 p.m. on Monday, March 19 ... Georgia is ranked 14th in both the Associated Press and Coaches’ Polls this week ... the Bulldogs bring a 25-6 overall record into the tournament ... UG finished second in the Southeastern Conference with an 11-3 league mark behind Tennessee ... the Bulldogs lost to Vanderbilt, 81-56, in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament, but had won 11 out of the previous 12 going into the semifinal game ... Belmont advanced to the NCAA Tournament with an automatic bid after winning the Atlantic Sun Tournament Championship ... the Bruins are 25-6 on the season and were 16-2 in the Atlantic Sun to win the regular-season league title ... Belmont has won 18 out of its last 20 contests, falling on the road at Mercer and Jacksonville during that stretch.

He’s the Dean

With the announcement Monday that Jody Conradt was stepping down as head coach at the University of Texas, Iowa State head coach Bill Fennelly is now the dean of Big 12 coaches ... Fennelly is in his 12th season at Iowa State, followed closely by Deb Patterson (Kansas State) and Sherri Coale (Oklahoma) who are each in their 11th season in the Big 12 Conference ... Fennelly has compiled a 258-119 record in his 12 seasons at Iowa State and is 115-75 in Big 12 conference games.

Season Reset

The Cyclones have won their last three meetings against top 25 teams ... Iowa State’s first-round tournament win over Kansas State was ISU’s first over the Wildcat in six tries at the Big 12 Tournament ... ISU’s 72-68 win at Texas Tech was the first in school history for the Cyclones in Lubbock ... ISU has reached 25 wins for just the fifth time in school history, all under the direction of head coach Bill Fennelly ... ISU has winning streaks of 10 and eight games this season ... the Cyclones carry a 24 RPI as of March 11, and have a 5-4 record against teams in the current RPI top 50 according to collegerpi.com, and a 13-6 mark against teams in the top 80 ... with a 57-51 win over 13th ranked Texas A&M in the Big 12 semifinals, Iowa State improved to 4-3 on the season against ranked teams, 40-104 all-time and 34-45 against top 25 squads under Fennelly.

ISU in the NCAA Tourney

Iowa State is making its eighth NCAA Tournament appearance, all under head coach Bill Fennelly ... the Cyclones are 9-7 all-time in the tournament ... Iowa State fell in the opening round as a No. 7 seed to 10th-seeded Utah, 73-61, in Fresno, Calif., in 2005 ... the Cyclones’ longest stay in the Big Dance was in 1999 when ISU made it to the Mideast Regional final before falling to third-seeded Georgia ... Georgia is the third seed in ISU’s bracket again this season and the two teams would meet in the second round in Minneapolis if they both should advance ... Iowa State made its first NCAA appearance in 1997 as a No. 12 seed, losing to fifth-seeded Utah 66-57 in the first round ... the Cyclones have made it to the Sweet 16 three times in its eight trips to tournament, in 1999, 2000 and 2001 ... Utah is the only team ISU has faced in two different NCAA Tournaments.

Where They Stack Up

Iowa State was picked fifth in the Big 12 Preseason Coaches Poll and improved on that, tying with Nebraska for fourth place in the final standings ... ISU moved into the Associated Press Poll for the first time this week, ranking 24th in the final poll ... ISU also moved into the Coaches’ Poll for the first time this season, ranking 25th this week ... ISU was picked No. 23 in two preseason publications, including Street & Smith’s College Basketball Yearbook and SportsPageMagazine.com.

Big 12 Postseason Honors

Senior Lyndsey Medders was named to the All-Big 12 First Team, while sophomore Nicky Wieben was an honorable-mention pick ... it marked the third straight year that at least two Cyclones have earned Big 12 postseason honors ... Medders earned her second consecutive All-Big 12 honor, while Wieben’s award was the first of her career ... Medders was also named to the Big 12 All-Tournament Team after she averaged 16 points per game and shot 52.2 percent from three-point range ... she posted five assists, four rebounds and one steal per game through the four tournament contests ... Medders was also named a the Big 12 First Team member by the Waco Tribune-Herald out of Waco, Texas.

Medders Tabbed a WBCA/Kodak All-America Finalist

Senior Lyndsey Medders was one of five Big 12 players to be named a WBCA/Kodak All-America finalist ... Medders was one of seven players selected in Region 5 ... Medders is ISU’s leading scorer with 12.8 ppg and ranks eighth nationally in assists per game with 6.4.

A Trip Home

The Iowa State women’s basketball team made it no secret that Minneapolis, Minn., is where it wanted to be sent for the NCAA Tournament ... seed and opponent made little difference to the Cyclones, as site was the focus of interest ... Iowa State has three players on its current roster from the state of Minnesota, led by senior Megan Ronhovde, who is from Barrett (163 miles from Minneapolis) ... the Cyclones played in Los Angeles, Calif., over Thanksgiving in the Pepperdine Tournament to take senior Lyndsey Medders home and now it is Ronhovde’s turn ... sophomore Amanda Nisleit is from Woodbury (18 miles from Minneapolis) and Gillian Bjerke is from Pelican Rapids (199 miles from Minneapolis) ... Ames, Iowa, is only 214 miles from Minneapolis, making a quick and easy trip for the Iowa State fans to attend.

Familiar Setting

This will not be the first trip to Williams Arena for seven of the 13 active Cyclones ... Iowa State played the University of Minnesota at the arena last season, falling 66-61 to Golden Gophers ... Amanda Nisleit has played high school games at Williams Arena, while Gillian Bjerke attended team camp there in high school.

ISU Tidbits

Ten different Cyclones have hit a three-pointer this season ... Iowa State has hit 10 or more three-pointers in four out of the last five games ... sophomore Nicky Wieben has scored in double figures in 21 games and has led ISU in scoring in 12 games this season, while senior Lyndsey Medders has been in double digits in 20 contests and has surpassed the 20-point mark in six of those ... Wieben has two double-doubles on the year, while junior Toccara Ross has logged four double-doubles ... Ross has been in double figures in 18 games this years and has led the Cyclones on the glass in 15 contests ... Iowa State is 14-2 this season when holding opponents under 60 points, while the Cyclones are 23-3 when scoring 60 points or better.