Cyclones Battle Baylor for Share of First Place

Cyclones Battle Baylor for Share of First Place

02.17.2005 | Women's Basketball

By: Iowa State University

No. 19/18 Iowa State at No. 7/8 Baylor
Saturday, Feb. 19, 2005 ? 2 p.m. tip
Ferrell Center (10,284) ? Waco, Texas

On the Air
Iowa State's game will be broadcast live on 1430 KASI in Ames ... SIRIUS satellite radio will carry the broadcast live on channel 111 ... every game is broadcast live and free of charge on the internet (www.cyclones.com).

Quickly
Iowa State travels to Baylor for the first of two consecutive road games ... BU, which is sporting a seven-game win streak and tops the league standings, plays host to ISU in its third consecutive home game ... the Cyclones are 5-4 on the road, including a 3-3 mark in opposing Big 12 gyms ... ISU has lost two consecutive road games (at TTU, at NU) ... the Lady Bears are 12-0 at home this season ... Iowa State owns just one victory in Waco, dating back to the series opener in 1997 ... Baylor has won three of the last four games in the series, while all four games have been decided by an average margin of eight points ... No. 7/8 BU is the highest ranked team ISU has faced this season ... Iowa State hasn't won a game in a ranked opponent's gym since topping No. 9 Kansas State in 2002 (eight games) ... the Cyclones are 3-1 against Big 12 southern teams, while the Lady Bears are 2-1 against the north ... four of Baylor's last five games are against northern division teams ... one more win would give ISU head coach Bill Fennelly the 12th 20-win season of his career and the sixth at Iowa State ... the 1975-76 squad is the only other Cyclone team to record 20 wins (20-8) ... ISU's 19 wins is the most since the 2001-02 finished the season 24-9 ... the Cyclones' nine conference wins is the most since the 2001-02 squad went 9-7 in league play ... BU's Steffanie Blackmon joined ISU head coach Bill Fennelly, assistant coach Latoja Harris and Cyclone senior Anne O'Neil as members of the Big 12 All-Star squad that represented Team USA at the 2003 World University Games.

About the Cyclones (19-4, 9-3)
Iowa State snapped a two-game losing skid by thumping Oklahoma State 90-65 in Ames Wedenesday, keeping the Cyclones' home record perfect at 13-0 this season ... Mary Fox had a career night for the Cyclones, sinking 9-of-10 shots, including all six 3-point attempts ... Fox was perfect from the free-throw line as well, hitting 4-of-4 en route to a career-best 28 points ... Katie Robinette dominated the inside game, scoring 25 points in 23 minutes, while collecting 11 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season and the 10th of her career ... Lyndsey Medders matched her career high and the third best single-game performance in school history with 13 assists, while committing no turnovers ... Iowa State sank 51.6 percent of its shots while outrebounding the Cowgirls 41-27.

About the Lady Bears (20-3, 10-2)
No. 7/8 Baylor extended its win streak to seven with a 74-57 decision over Missouri Wednesday in Waco ... the Lady Bears got a career-high 31 points from Steffanie Blackmon, who added 11 rebounds for her second consecutive double-double and her seventh of the year ... Sophia Young leads BU in scoring (17.7 ppg) and rebounding (9.3 rpg), while Blackmon averages 16.0 points per game ... in overall stats, the Lady Bears lead the league in 3-point percentage (41.4), but rank fourth in Big 12 contests only (36.0) ... in league games, BU ranks first in rebounding offense (40.5), rebounding margin (+8.1), assists (16.58) and rebounding defense (32.4).

The Cyclone - Lady Bear Series
This is the 11th game of the series, which is knotted at 5-5 ... Iowa State owns just one victory (1-3) at the Ferrell Center, a lopsided 88-43 win in the first meeting of the series (Feb. 5, 1997) ... the Cyclones upset No. 18 Baylor 81-72 in Ames last season, snapping BU's three-game series win streak ... the Lady Bears won a 95-83 double-overtime thriller the last time the teams met in Waco ... ISU head coach Bill Fennelly is 5-5 vs. Baylor ... BU head coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson is 4-2 vs. ISU.

The Difference Between Winning and Losing
Iowa State averaged 81.8 points on 47.9 percent shooting in its 19 wins, including 41.4 percent 3-point accuracy ... in the Cyclones' four losses, ISU averaged 63.2 points on 37.2 percent shooting and 30.2 percent 3-point accuracy .... Iowa State pulls down 43.5 boards in wins and 33.2 rebounds in losses ... four Cyclones average double-figure scoring, while a fifth scores 9.7 ppg in wins ... only two Cyclones average double digits in losses ... opponents have shot 48.3 percent in their four wins (40.7 from behind the arc), while ISU holds its foes to 34.0 percent accuracy in Cyclone victories (25.7 percent from 3-point range).

Tracking the Trends
Anne O'Neil is the first true guard to lead ISU in rebounding since Jolene Leseman averaged 7.6 rpg in 1980-81 ... Iowa State has recorded a double-digit margin of victory in all but three wins ... ISU has been outrebounded seven times, five times in Big 12 games ... seven Cyclone opponents have shot over 40 percent from the floor this season ... the Cyclones have shot under 40 percent four times this season, all in Big 12 games (Jan. 15 vs. MU, Jan. 25 at KSU, Feb. 8 at TTU, Feb. 12 at NU) ... Iowa State's top two shooting performances have come against league foes in Hilton Coliseum (Kansas State, 64.6 percent; Colorado, 57.4 percent) ... ISU has recorded fewer turnovers than its opponent in 11 games, including four league contests ... Bill Fennelly has used the same starters since Dec. 5 (notable due to the fact that he used 14 different lineups last season).

Spotlight Performances
Katie Robinette was the only Cyclone to record double-figure scoring at Kansas State, the only time this season ISU has had only one player score in double digits ... Lisa Kriener scored a season-high 14 points against Colorado after averaging 4.6 points in the previous five games ... Megan Ronhovde hit 6-of-6 3-pointers against Colorado, while Mary Fox drained 6-of-6 treys against Oklahoma State ... those were the best performances since Stacy Frese drained an NCAA-record 8-of-8 treys against Nebraska Jan. 28, 1999 ... Ronhovde sank 3-of-3 treys against Texas and hit her first two 3-point tries at Texas Tech for a streak of 11 consecutive 3-pointers made over three games ... Lyndsey Medders has recorded a career-best 13 assists twice this season, ranking third on the ISU single-game performance list ... Anne O'Neil has just missed a triple-double twice this season ... O'Neil had 18 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds against Colorado and recorded 15 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in just 24 minutes against IPFW ... only one Cyclone has ever posted a triple-double (Jane Lobenstein vs. KU, Feb. 5, 1986, 18 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists), while two others have been close (Megan Taylor vs. Western Michigan, Dec. 20, 1999, 13 points, 9 rebounds, 10 assists; Tracy Eckert vs. Iowa, Dec. 15, 1979, 13 points, 8 rebounds, 12 assists).

Season Milestones
ISU managed its first season sweep of Colorado since 2002 ... Iowa State matched the best start in school history with a 15-1 overall mark and a 5-0 Big 12 slate ... ISU owned a 12-game win streak that ranked second nationally before losing at KSU Jan. 25 ... Kansas State had 60 rebounds (26 offensive) in its win over Iowa State Jan. 25, the most since Oregon set an ISU opponent record with 70 rebounds on Jan. 7, 1982 ... ISU held Kansas to its second lowest point total in school history with a 70-37 win Jan. 12 ... with their 78-59 win over Kansas State Jan. 5, the Cyclones scored the most points in regulation against the Wildcats since KSU defeated Georgia State (93-79) Dec. 29, 2001 ... Iowa State had a record-setting night against IPFW, breaking the school mark for assists (35) and setting new Hilton Coliseum records for scoring (113) and win margin (+68) ... head coach Bill Fennelly earned his 200th Cyclone victory with an 86-78 overtime win at UNLV Dec. 19 ... ISU, which hadn't won a road game after trailing at the half since 1999, has won two (at UNI, at UNLV) this season ... Iowa State's all-time women's basketball record finally rose above the .500 mark, the first time since 1979-80.

Put Yourself in Their Shoes
Senior transfers Katie Robinette (2001 Miss Nebraska Basketball) and Anne O'Neil (2000 Miss Iowa Basketball) have never played in an NCAA Tournament ... seniors Lisa Kriener, Tracy Paustian and Mary Fox advanced to the NCAA second round, recording a 24-9 record their freshman season, while Brittany Wilkins and O'Neil were sidelined as redshirts ... this group of Cyclones recorded its first win against Texas and its first victory in Boulder.

Put It In The Books
Mary Fox's 136 career 3-pointers rank sixth in the school record books, while her 379 attempts rank sixth all-time ... Megan Ronhovde ranks ninth with 119 career 3-pointers and ninth with 313 3-point attempts ... Anne O'Neil become the 16th Cyclone to break the 1,000-point plateau Feb. 2 against Colorado and ranks 15th with 1,065 points ... O'Neil is ISU's career record holder in free throw percentage, ranks eighth in career free throws made (288) and 10th in attempts (349) ... Katie Robinette is fifth with 62 career blocks, while Brittany Wilkins is tied at eighth with 57 ... Lyndsey Medders is tied for 10th on the single-season assists list with 129 ... Robinette's 34 blocks this year rank fifth all-time.

Where They Rank
In the Big 12 Conference's overall statistics, Iowa State ranks first in scoring offense (78.6); field goal percentage (46.0) and 3-pointers made (9.17) ... individually, Anne O'Neil leads the nation and the league in 3-point percentage (52.2) ... in Big 12 games only, ISU is tops in scoring (72.9); field goal percentage (45.1); 3-point percentage (39.9), 3-pointers made (9.42) and defensive rebounds (28.33).

Change is Good
Senior guard Anne O'Neil made adjustments to her 3-point shot over the summer, adopting a quicker release and more conventional form ... she is shooting better from behind the arc than from the floor overall and leads the nation in 3-point percentage ... she has drained 47-of-90 from outside for 52.2 percent accuracy this season ... O'Neil hit 33.5 percent in her previous three seasons with her - uh, well - let's just call it "unorthodox" 3-point shooting form.

Trey Bien
Four Cyclones (Fox, Medders, O'Neil, Ronhovde) combine to shoot 82.5 percent of ISU's 3-point tries, while only three players on the roster have not attempted one this season ... the Cyclones have made 10 or more treys in 12 games this season, with a season-high 15 vs. Colorado Feb. 2 ... the school record is 18 vs. Missouri on Feb. 19, 2000 ... Iowa State has made at least one 3-pointer in 297 consecutive games since 1995, ranking fourth nationally behind Cleveland State, Drake and Miami (Ohio).

30 Seconds of Defense
Iowa State has showcased an aggressive defense this year ... Bill Fennelly, a master of the zone defense, has added a player-to-player scheme to his arsenal ... the Cyclones have bought into the system, forcing 18 shot-clock violations this season ... ISU forced three shot-clock violations in the season opener vs. Cleveland State and on the road at Kansas, four against Northern Colorado and two against both IPFW and Drake.

They're Back
Iowa State returned to both national polls this season at No. 24 on Jan. 10 for the first time since early 2002 ... ISU last appeared in the AP poll at No. 20 on Nov. 25, 2002 ... the Cyclones were ranked at No. 24 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll on Dec. 2, 2002, before falling off of the national lists.

Home Sweet Hilton
Iowa State is 13-0 in Hilton Coliseum this season ... the Cyclones have been phenomenal at home during Fennelly's tenure, compiling a 126-22 record (.851) in Hilton Coliseum, including a 54-3 mark against regular-season nonconference opponents ... ISU recorded its first women's basketball sellout last season in the WNIT-NIT double-header March 25 ... the capacity crowd watched the Cyclones advance to the WNIT Final Four with a 66-58 win over Saint Joseph's ... Fennelly's 1998-99 and 2000-01 squads posted ISU's only undefeated home campaigns, going 15-0 and 16-0, respectively.