I was at ISU From 95-2000. The beginning of the Fennelly era. It feels like this era started with Stacy Freese. If nothing else she and Fennelly started something new and special with wbb, that has been sustained for the next 20+ years. However I have not broken down stats like the rest of you.
Mount Rushmore of ISU WBB Program
- Thread starter CyclonesFan4ever
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Little bit of trivia. #51 is Lynne Lorenzen. The all time leading scorer in IA HS basketball, and may have had the national record.
Also, I was there in the early 90s. Forget her name but I had a lab partner for a finance class who when we started was the team manager. About a week or two into the season they had her dress as an emergency player since she knew the plays. By the end of the semester was seeing the court occasionally. Not taking anything from Jen? (I think 40% of the women then were named some sort of Jen so I will go with that), but having your manager playing is not a sign of a strong team. They won less than Prohms team did.
Hard to argue with this list. I would love to put Stacy Frese in there because like Fennely the program isn't where it is without her, but who would you swap her in for? I can't with any of those four names.
This is a pretty good summary. Stacy Frese almost had a Steph Curry-like quality about her. The ability to let fly (with a funky looking shot) from anywhere and also drive and get the ball into the right person's hands- but mainly the way the offense was always under her control, even when she didn't have the ball.
Megan was my favorite - I actually played a pickup game at Lied against her and Sarah Robsen once. I actually think Joens is the most similar player ISU has had - although Megan was more of a supporting player rather than the star. Megan is shorter and played with more of an attitude, but the way Ashley does everything, score, rebound, defend out of position, block shots, etc. reminds me of Megan a lot. Bridget was more of a finesse player in my mind than Megan or Ashley.
I think I said Bridget because of her offensive style -- Megan didn't have a post offense anything like Ashley. But if you take away that aspect, then there are definitely a lot of similarities between Megan and Ashley.
Mardi Pfannenbecker because she was from Moravia, hometown of Machine Gun Molly Bolin. Just something about those girls from Moravia . . . . and she was really cute.
Those are awesome. I kept stats for the women's team so sat at the scorer's bench in '86-87, '87-88, '88-89. I knew all of the players. Etta Burns was my favorite player from that time.
Thank you all for sharing those great stories and memories from the glorious days. The more I read about them, the more I think our teams in the late 90s, early 2000s era could draw a comparison to the Golden State Warriors of the NBA in recent years, i.e. a dynasty. It's completely reasonable that multiple players from that era deserve to be put on the Mt. Rushmore of ISU WBB program.
Another name I think that needs attention is Coach Brenda Frese. Could long-time members share more information about her contribution to our program in that era? Was she mainly responsible for the recruiting success at that time? Who else played an important role in our most successful period?
Another name I think that needs attention is Coach Brenda Frese. Could long-time members share more information about her contribution to our program in that era? Was she mainly responsible for the recruiting success at that time? Who else played an important role in our most successful period?
Pat Hodgson has my vote!
"Hodgson, a six-on-six player at Glenwood High School (averaged only 49 points per game), didn’t start her freshman year at Iowa State (1974-1975), but in her role off the bench, she led the team in scoring with an average of 12.4 points per game.
Her sophomore season, she averaged her career high with 14.1 points per game while leading the Cyclones to their first ever 20 win season.
She was also the Big Eight Champion high jumper in 1975 and 1976, as well as the 440 meter hurdles and mile relay in 1975.
Hodgson would finish her Iowa State career with 1,284 points and 813 rebounds.
Page 249 of Karra Porter’s Mad Seasons: The Story of the First Women’s Professional Basketball League, 1978-1981 shares Pat’s averages for the Cornets.
“She ending up third in scoring (11.4), rebounds (6.2), assists (3.3) and minutes played for the Cornets.”"
"Hodgson, a six-on-six player at Glenwood High School (averaged only 49 points per game), didn’t start her freshman year at Iowa State (1974-1975), but in her role off the bench, she led the team in scoring with an average of 12.4 points per game.
Her sophomore season, she averaged her career high with 14.1 points per game while leading the Cyclones to their first ever 20 win season.
She was also the Big Eight Champion high jumper in 1975 and 1976, as well as the 440 meter hurdles and mile relay in 1975.
Hodgson would finish her Iowa State career with 1,284 points and 813 rebounds.
Page 249 of Karra Porter’s Mad Seasons: The Story of the First Women’s Professional Basketball League, 1978-1981 shares Pat’s averages for the Cornets.
“She ending up third in scoring (11.4), rebounds (6.2), assists (3.3) and minutes played for the Cornets.”"
Thanks for posting this, it refreshed a lot of precious memories.
My admiration for Angie Welle was not only her performance on the court but also her post-game interviews. I looked forward to them because she was one of the smartest and funniest athletes I have ever seen or heard.
I loved watching Tracy Gahan. It was good to hear Coach Fennelly talk about her being like a swiss army knife; she was always where you needed her and did what was needed. I remember seeing a video (which went viral) of her shooting a jump shot which another coach was using as a training video demonstrating the perfect jump shot. After her career at Iowa State, she played professionally overseas for a few years.
Not necessarily related to this team, I remember a post-game interview of an opposing coach talking about one of our players was in range (for a three point shot) when she stepped off the bus. I can't remember who the coach was referencing.
Fennelly and Welle make my list for sure. I am going throw a name out there that hasn't been mentioned yet: Monica Huelman. Mo was the 1st recruit to commit to BF and was really the first building block of what he started. Here is what Rob Gray posted after she passed: Bill Fennelly pays an emotional tribute to Monica (Huelman) Zaruba – CycloneFanatic.com | CycloneFanatic: The Internet's most popular site for fans of the Iowa State Cyclones
Her 3 pointer against UConn was the spark that got us rolling at the end of that game to lead the comeback to win the game.
After those 3 I have a hard time picking between many of the other names listed so far because they all meant so much to the program when they were here. To this day I still consider Welle the best player to come through the program even over Carleton and Joens who are right there with her in the record books. She was so tough to guard as she ran the floor well for a post player, had some great post moves that she made for a high percentage, and she could stretch a defense and knock down a 3 if they left her open
Her 3 pointer against UConn was the spark that got us rolling at the end of that game to lead the comeback to win the game.
After those 3 I have a hard time picking between many of the other names listed so far because they all meant so much to the program when they were here. To this day I still consider Welle the best player to come through the program even over Carleton and Joens who are right there with her in the record books. She was so tough to guard as she ran the floor well for a post player, had some great post moves that she made for a high percentage, and she could stretch a defense and knock down a 3 if they left her open
MRed has done a yeoman‘s job of describing some of the early stars under Coach Fennelly. The only thing that I would add are the following:
Taylor - we used to call her the “little engine that could.“ This referred to her nonstop motor as she was always on the move. Didn’t matter if she was on offense or defense she was incredibly active which led to her ability to rebound and then get the ball up the court. She was deceivingly quick and could make defenders look silly at times. She was also tougher than nails. The one shot that I will never forget is the winning three pointer from nearly half court as time expired to beat Texas. Here’s a nice interview with her. https://cyclonesidebar.wordpress.com/2016/09/23/checking-in-with-megan-taylor/
Welle - she made her presence known right away as a freshman. She really was one of the most talented post players I’ve seen in all of my years following Iowa State basketball. You never saw her take a play off as she usually was one of the first people down the court during a fast break. One of the things that made her especially tough to play against was she was one of the rare left-handed post players of that time. Most offenders could be easily beat by her move to that side of the basket. One thing she does have in common with Ashley is both are educators.
Frese - I honestly don’t know how she kept getting up off the floor as many times as she was knocked down. She was as scrappy and tenacious as it gets. One of the sweetest and most pure three-point shots we will likely ever see. One of her most valued traits was her leadership on the floor. Someone mentioned earlier about coach telling Welle if you’re not scoring find another way to contribute. Frese did this all of the time. She was what made her teams tick.
Taylor - we used to call her the “little engine that could.“ This referred to her nonstop motor as she was always on the move. Didn’t matter if she was on offense or defense she was incredibly active which led to her ability to rebound and then get the ball up the court. She was deceivingly quick and could make defenders look silly at times. She was also tougher than nails. The one shot that I will never forget is the winning three pointer from nearly half court as time expired to beat Texas. Here’s a nice interview with her. https://cyclonesidebar.wordpress.com/2016/09/23/checking-in-with-megan-taylor/
Welle - she made her presence known right away as a freshman. She really was one of the most talented post players I’ve seen in all of my years following Iowa State basketball. You never saw her take a play off as she usually was one of the first people down the court during a fast break. One of the things that made her especially tough to play against was she was one of the rare left-handed post players of that time. Most offenders could be easily beat by her move to that side of the basket. One thing she does have in common with Ashley is both are educators.
Frese - I honestly don’t know how she kept getting up off the floor as many times as she was knocked down. She was as scrappy and tenacious as it gets. One of the sweetest and most pure three-point shots we will likely ever see. One of her most valued traits was her leadership on the floor. Someone mentioned earlier about coach telling Welle if you’re not scoring find another way to contribute. Frese did this all of the time. She was what made her teams tick.
I’d like to add Coach Schaben and Coach Steyer to HM. Who knows what this program would look like without their long tenures. Respect, ladies.
Glad you mentioned Mo. I was going if no one posted. It's still hard to fathom we lost Mo so early. She was one of a kind and like you mentioned she is part of the foundation that has made this program what it is today.
Since so much love and appreciation of the past is being recalled I want to mention a few other names. I go back the the Becker days and the star player at the time was Melanie Young.
Some other names that forever stick out are Twanya Herbert. Back then like I mentioned in another thread the attendance was bare so you could hear the action on the court. Twanya was a hard nosed defender who while defending would make so much noise to make up for the lack of crowd. Another is Jenny Hobbs, who was Sarah Robson of her time.
Finally some love to the those who were part of transition from Becker to Fennelly. Guard court of Julie Hand and Tara Gunderson, g/f Kim Martin and posts Jayme Olson and Janel Grimm. These 5 will always have a special place in my heart.
Some other names that forever stick out are Twanya Herbert. Back then like I mentioned in another thread the attendance was bare so you could hear the action on the court. Twanya was a hard nosed defender who while defending would make so much noise to make up for the lack of crowd. Another is Jenny Hobbs, who was Sarah Robson of her time.
Finally some love to the those who were part of transition from Becker to Fennelly. Guard court of Julie Hand and Tara Gunderson, g/f Kim Martin and posts Jayme Olson and Janel Grimm. These 5 will always have a special place in my heart.
