Iowa State University Athletics
Cyclones Return Home to Host Panthers
12.01.2006 | Women's Basketball
Iowa State returns home for the first time in five games Saturday afternoon when the Cyclones play host to Wisconsin-Milwaukee at 2 p.m. in HIlton Coliseum ... ISU will not truly hit the road again until Jan. 6 when it travels to Missouri ... Iowa State plays eight of their next nine games at Hilton Coliseum, and the ninth is a game against Saint Louis in Des Moines on Dec. 16 ... the Cyclones are 4-1 this season and are coming off an 80-74 win on Thursday night at instate rival Iowa ... ISU will next host Drake at Hilton on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
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.
World Wide
The UW-Milwaukee game will be shown live via a webcast on Cyclones.com for fans everywhere to enjoy ... the video feed will be streamed using the new videoboard technology recently installed in Hilton Coliseum ... fans who cannot make it to the game will be able to see exactly what is being shown on the Hilton videoboard during the game, live from their computer ... this exclusive premium content comes to fans courtesy of the Clone Zone.
Last Time Out
Iowa State didn't score in the first four and a half minutes of the game at Iowa, but came back to beat the Hawkeyes, 80-74, Thursday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena ... with the win, ISU cut Iowa's lead in the Hy-Vee Cy-Hawk Series to 5-4 ... seniors Megan Ronhovde and Lyndsey Medders led the Cyclones to the win over Iowa, as Ronhovde had her best game of the season with 19 points and seven rebounds, hitting on 5-of-9 three-point attempts ... Medders came back after struggling in the first half, scoring just four points, to finish with 21 points and eight assists, becoming ISU's 13th all-time leading scorer in the process ... Toccara Ross had 15 points and Heather Ezell scored 10 points, finishing in double figures for the fifth straight contest ... Iowa State got its first lead after scoring on its first two possessions of the second half, going ahead 39-38, on a lay in by Nicky Wieben ... Ronhovde hit a three for the Cyclones with 15:55 left to take a 43-40 advantage ... after taking the Cyclones' largest lead of the night, 71-63, Iowa went on a seven-point run of its own to cut the lead to one, 71-70, with three minutes remaining ... Ezell got a layup and hit a big three to put the Cyclones back up six and ISU scored important free throws down the stretch to put the game away ... Iowa State shot 48.3 percent from the field for the game, after hitting a blistering 16-of-28 for 57.1 percent for the second half ... the Cyclones won the rebounding battle, 37-34.
About the Cyclones
With an 80-74 win over Iowa on Thursday, Iowa State improved to 4-1 on the year with its only loss coming at Pepperdine on Nov. 25 ... the Cyclones have averaged 73.2 points per game this season, while holding opponents to 66.2 ... ISU is shooting 47.2 percent from the field and 39.5 percent from beyond the arc ... the Cyclones have hit 47 treys through five games and have knocked down 10 or more in three contests ... ISU is averaging 42.2 rebounds and is outrebounding its opponents by a +6.6 margin ... ISU is in its 34th season of women's basketball and holds a 474-464 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 for their ninth postseason appearance in the last 10 years.
About the Panthers
UW-Milwaukee comes to Ames with a 3-5 overall record and a 1-4 road showing ... the Panthers most recently fell to Marquette at home, 74-63, on Nov. 29 ... UWM fell at Drake, Iowa State's next opponent, on Nov. 17, 75-72 ... the Panthers have just two players averaging double figures, led by the 6-2 sophomore center, Traci Edwards, with 16.8 points and 8.1 rebounds per game ... junior guard Meredith Onson has posted 10.9 points, 3.8 rebounds and three assists per contest this season ... the Panthers are averaging 61.8 points per game, while allowing opponents 69.5 ppg ... Wisconsin-Milwaukee is shooting 44.3 percent from the field and 36.6 (48-131) percent from three-point range ... the Panthers have pulled down an average of 33.8 rebounds per game and have posted 19.4 turnovers to 14.5 assists ... UWM is coached by Sandy Botham, who is in her 11th season with the Panthers ... Botham is 168-124 at the helm of the Panther program, has been named the league coach of the year three times, and has led UWM to two league championships and two NCAA Tournament appearances.
The Series
Iowa State holds a 3-1 advantage in the all-time series with the Panthers, including a 2-1 mark at Hilton Coliseum ... the two teams met four consecutive seasons from 1992 to 1995 ... the teams have not met since ISU took a 37-point victory, 78-41, in 1995, in Milwaukee ... ISU's only loss to the Panthers came in the first meeting, when UWM prevailed 76-51 in Ames, in 1992.
Comeback Kid
Sophomore Heather Ezell has proven through five games this season she thrives when the going gets tough ... Ezell has scored 39 of her 58 points this season in the second half of games, good for 67 percent of her scoring ... most of those points have come in the clutch, including scoring 13 points in the last five and a half minutes at UNI and seven points in the last four minutes at Iowa.
Triple Threat
Iowa State is averaging 9.4 treys per game through five games and is shooting 39.5 percent from beyond the arc ... while it is early, the Cyclones are on record pace ... the school record for a season is 9.1 threes per contest during the 1999-00 and 2000-01 seasons and the NCAA record for a season is 9.3 by Bowling Green in 2000 ... Santa Clara led the nation a year ago at 8.5 pg ... Iowa State's 39.5 shooting percentage from outside would rank fourth in school history and is just shy of Maryland's nation-leading 40-percent mark from a season ago ... five Cyclones are shooting 40 percent or better from outside the arc.
Senior Milestone
Senior Megan Ronhovde will play in her 100th career game on Saturday against UW-Milwaukee ... the Barrett, Minn., native will also make the 85th start of her career at ISU ... fellow senior Lyndsey Medders will play in her 95th career contest and start her 29th game on Saturday.
Double-Trouble
Junior college transfer Toccara Ross has notched four straight games of double-digit scoring, including posting back-to-back double-doubles to lead Iowa State last weekend in the Pepperdine Thanksgiving Tournament ... Ross had 19 points and six rebounds, including going 7-of-13 from the field, against UNI ...she turned in 18 points and 11 rebounds in the win over Virginia Tech and had 16 points and 11 rebounds vs. Pepperdine ... she averaged 17.7 points and 9.3 rebounds, while shooting 56.4 percent from the field, in the three games combined last week ... sophomore Heather Ezell has posted five straight games of double-digit scoring, averaging 11.6 points per game for the season ... she was 3-of-7 from downtown against Pepperdine.
Major Milestone
ISU head coach Bill Fennelly earned his 400th career victory with the Cyclones' season-opening win vs. Cal State Fullerton ... Fennelly is now 403-164 overall and 236-111 in his 12 seasons with the Cyclones ... his 300th career win came against Baylor on March 7, 2001, in the Big 12 Tournament ... No. 200 also came in the Big 12 Tourney, defeating Texas A&M on March 4, 1997 ... notched his 100th career win while coaching at Toledo, turning back Providence, 74-64, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on March 18, 1992.
Early Season Honors
All-America candidate Lyndsey Medders has earned numerous preseason accolades, including being named to the All-Big 12 Preseason Team ... she was named to the Women's John R. Wooden Award Preseason All-America Team ... she was also named one of the nation's top five point guards by ESPN.com ... she earned preseason all-America recognition from SportsPageMagazine.com and Street & Smith's College Basketball Yearbook ... Medders led the Cyclones a year ago with 16.5 points per game, and led the nation in assists with a 7.7 pg average ... she was named to the All-Big 12 First Team last season, and earned third-team all-America honors from Women's Basketball News Service in 2005-06.
Head coach Bill Fennelly took over a program that had only five winning seasons in its first 22 years and has guided ISU to nine postseason appearances in the last 10 years ... he earned the 400th win of his career in the 2006-07 season opener against Cal State Fullerton ... he has led the Cyclones to seven NCAA Tournament appearances, including a 1999 Elite Eight berth and Sweet Sixteen games in 2000 and 2001 ... Fennelly's Cyclones captured the only league championships in program history, winning back-to-back Big 12 Conference Tournament championships in 2000 and 2001 and earning a share of the regular-season crown in 2000 ... Iowa State spent more than four years in The Associated Press national poll, including 34 weeks in the top 10 ... he has posted more than double the conference victories (105) in 11 seasons at ISU than all of the previous 15 seasons combined (43) ... his teams have drawn record-setting crowds, ranking among the top 11 schools nationally in attendance the last eight seasons ... Fennelly's leadership produced ISU's first-ever All-Americans in Stacy Frese (1999, 2000), Angie Welle (2000, 2001, 2002) and Anne O'Neil (2005) ... Welle was voted to the Big 12 Conference 10th Anniversary Team, an elite group of five players ... his Cyclones have earned all-conference recognition 26 times and academic all-league honors 51 times ... six of his players have been selected in the WNBA professional basketball draft over the last five years ... Fennelly, who guided Toledo to a 166-53 record and six postseason tournament berths in his seven years at UT, was inducted in the Toledo Varsity "T" Hall of Fame in 2003.
Where They Stack Up
Iowa State was picked fifth in the Big 12 Preseason Coaches Poll ... the Cyclones found themselves receiving votes in the first Associated Press Poll ... ISU received six votes this week in the AP Poll, good for 44th place ... ISU was picked No. 23 in two preseason publications, including Street & Smith's College Basketball Yearbook and SportsPageMagazine.com.
Trey Bien
Iowa State has made at least one three-pointer in 340 consecutive regular-season games dating back to 1995 ... that streak ranks third nationally behind Cleveland State and Drake ... the school record for three-pointers made in a game is 18 (vs. Missouri, Feb. 19, 2000), which ISU challenged in their game against Virginia Tech, hitting 14-of-27 on the contest.
Home Sweet Hilton Magic
The Cyclones have been phenomenal at home during head coach Bill Fennelly's tenure, compiling a 140-27 record (.838) in Hilton Coliseum, including a 61-3 mark against regular-season nonconference opponents ... Iowa State finished 15-0 in Hilton Coliseum two years ago, the third Cyclone squad to go undefeated at home (all three have come under Fennelly) ... ISU finished the 2005-06 season ranked seventh in attendance, marking the eighth consecutive season the Cyclones have ranked 11th or higher.
Record Setting
Lyndsey Medders ranks 13th in school history with 1,115 career points, passing Carmen Jaspers (1,097), against Iowa ... she is now 44 points shy of surpassing Colleen Peterson (1,158) for 12th place on the ISU career chart ... Medders also ranks second on the ISU career assists chart with 540, she is 49 shy of tying Lindsey Wilson for first place on that list ... Nicky Wieben had five blocked shots against Cal State Fullerton and again at Iowa, giving her 70 for her career, which is good for eighth place on the Iowa State career charts ... she moved ahead of Barb Gordon (1991-94), who had 61 ... she is now four shy of Katie Robinette's 74.
Two For 2007-08
Iowa natives Kelsey Bolte (Ida Grove) and Jocelyn Anderson (Gowrie) made it official Nov. 7 when they signed National Letters of Intent to join the Iowa State women's basketball team for the 2007-08 season ... Bolte, a 6-1 senior guard at Battle Creek-Ida Grove, was the 2006 2A Iowa state Player of the Year, and earned a place on the 2006 Iowa state all-tournament team while leading the Falcons to a 27-2 overall record and a place in the state championship game ... Bolte averaged 22 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and five steals as a junior to earn her second straight all-State first team honors and IBCA all-region accolades ... Bolte also won the state AAU tournament while playing on the Iowa Basketball Coaches Association Iowa Select team last year ... Anderson will join the Cyclones after two seasons at Des Moines Area Community College, where she is a sophomore this season ... the 6-4 center was chosen as a junior college preseason first-team All-American before the 2006-07 season began ... Anderson averaged 15.5 points, 11.2 rebounds and 5.3 blocked shots per game and shot 58.7 percent from the field as a freshman at DMACC to earn first team all-region and second team NJCAA All-America honors ... she led the Bears to a 19-14 record a season ago and DMACC was ranked sixth in the 2006-07 preseason poll ... at Prairie Valley High School, Anderson earned first team, second team and honorable mention honors over three seasons in the Twin Lakes Conference.
Looking Back at 2005-06
Iowa State played two rounds of the 2006 Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT), with both games going into overtime at Hilton Coliseum ... ISU topped UW-Green Bay 79-71 March 16 and fell to Marquette 69-63 March 20 ... it was Iowa State's ninth postseason appearance in the last 10 years ... this was the Cyclones' second appearance in the WNIT after advancing to the Final Four in 2004 ... Iowa State recorded its 15th winning season in school history, while head coach Bill Fennelly posted his 17th winning campaign in 18 years ... 13 of Iowa State's 22 opponents earned postseason bids ... Lyndsey Medders led the nation in assists per game with 7.7 ... Medders was named a third-team All-American by WBNS ... Brittany Wilkins averaged nearly a double-double (16.1 ppg and 8.9 rpg) before being picked up as a free agent by the WNBA Sacramento Monarchs, where she remained on the roster through the championship series.
2005-06 Season Milestones
Lyndsey Medders was the 17th player in ISU history to join the 1,000-point club ... she set the ISU single-season assists record, dishing 215 ... Iowa State head coach Bill Fennelly finished the season one win shy of 400 career victories ... Nicky Wieben set the single-season blocked shots record (59) and already ranks ninth all-time at ISU ... Medders set seven of the top 15 single-game assist records and owns nine of the top 23 performances overall ... Heather Ezell tied for sixth on that single-game assist mark with 13 vs. Missouri ... junior Megan Ronhovde played every minute in ISU's two Big 12 Conference Championship games and logged seven complete games for the season ... Iowa State used a six-player rotation in four games and a seven-player roster in six contests ... 40.5 percent of ISU's shots were three-pointers ... Iowa State rallied back from a halftime deficit in five of its wins ... ISU lost just one game in which it scored at least 70 points (11-1) ... the Cyclones picked up their first win when scoring fewer than 60 points (1-6) in the regular-season finale victory over Colorado ... Iowa State made more free throws (383) than its opponents attempted (307).
