Cyclones Return Home to Face OSU

AMES, Iowa - The Iowa State women's basketball team returns to Hilton Coliseum for a tilt with the Oklahoma State Cowgirls at 7 p.m. Saturday ... the Cyclones are 9-0 at Hilton this season and come home after two straight Big 12 road losses ... ISU opened the Big 12 campaign with a 61-50 win over Kansas at home, but has lost at Missouri and Colorado ... Iowa State is 13-3 on the season after snapping a 10-game win streak at MU... the Cyclones wrapped up the non-conference slate at 12-1 overall ... Oklahoma State is 13-2 on the year and 1-1 in the Big 12 after knocking off Kansas, 68-54, on Wednesday ... in the Cyclones' win over Loyola Marymount, ISU senior All-America candidate Lyndsey Medders broke the Iowa State career assist record and now has 607 ... she leads the Cyclones with 12.8 points and 6.5 assists per game ... Toccara Ross leads the Cyclones on the glass with 6.9 rpg.

World Wide

The Oklahoma State gamewill 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 with a subscription to the Clone Zone.

Clone Zone webcasts and videoboard replays now have added several key components to enhance the viewing experience:

Score, clock and shot clock added to the video
Cyclone Radio Network play-by-play calling the action to compensate the video

Click these links for additional informtion about joining the Clone Zone:

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.

Last Time Out

Iowa State outscored the Colorado Buffaloes by 10 points in the second half, but it wasn't enough as the Cyclones fell 81-67 at the Coors Events Center on Wednesday night ... the Buffs won for the first time in six tries against the Cyclones ... with the loss, Iowa State dropped its second straight Big 12 contest to fall to 13-3 overall and 1-2 in the league ... Colorado had four players finish in double figures, led by Jackie McFarland, who had 22 points and grabbed 14 boards in the win ... the Buffaloes shot 51 percent from the floor for the game and finished 13-of-23 from three-point range ... Iowa State had three players in double digits, led by a season-high 20 points from senior Megan Ronhovde ... Nicky Wieben had 14 points and six rebounds, while Alison Lacey finished with 10 points ... the Cyclones shot 48.1 percent from the field in the second half to improve their game percentage to 40.4 ... CU slightly outrebounded ISU, 30-28 ... the Cyclones cut the CU lead to 13 points with 9:13 left in the game and got it down to 13 points on four other occasions, but couldn't get any closer down the stretch, as Colorado hit key shots to hold ISU at bay ... the Buffaloes were red hot in the first half, going 10-of-16 from three-point range to run out to a 48-24 halftime lead ... CU got out to a 28-13 advantage after hitting seven of its first eight long-range tries over the first eight minutes ... the Cyclones went on an 11-2 run to cut the margin to six points, 30-24, with four and a half minutes remaining in the first half, but the Buffs went on an 18-0 run to take a solid 24-point lead to the locker room.

About the Cyclones

Iowa State is 13-3 on the year and 1-2 in the Big 12 ... ISU is 9-0 at Hilton Coliseum this year ... ISU is outscoring opponents by a margin of +12.2, and is averaging 72.1 ppg ... the Cyclones are shooting 43.6 percent from the field and 34.5 percent from three-point range ... ISU has outrebounded opponents with a +7.8 margin ... Iowa State is in its 34th season of women's basketball and holds a 483-466 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 Cowgirls

The Oklahoma State Cowgirls come into Ames riding a 13-2 overall record and a 1-1 Big 12 Conference start after knocking of Kansas, 68-54, on Wednesday night at home ... head coach Kurt Budke is in his second season at the helm of the OSU program and has already doubled the Cowgirls' wins from a season ago, when they finished 6-22 and were winless in the Big 12 ... OSU leads the all-time series with Iowa State, 23-19 ... the Cowgirls have four players averaging double figures, led by junior center Maria Cordero's 13.9 points and 6.7 rebounds per game ... Oklahoma State is shooting 45.6 percent from the field and has an average winning margin of +26.8 through the first 15 contests ... the Cowgirls have held opponents to 32.7 percent shooting and have outrebounded opponents by a +14.6 margin ... OSU's only two losses this season have come on the road at Arkansas State and Texas Tech ... the Cowgirls are 1-2 in true road games, with their one road victory coming at Hawai'i ... OSU also has an impressive win over Fresno State ... Oklahoma State has dropped nine of its last 11 meetings with ISU.

The Series

Oklahoma State leads the series with Iowa State, 23-19 ... Iowa State has won the last two meetings and nine of the last 11 with the Cowgirls ... ISU defeated OSU, 71-62, last season in Stillwater ... OSU holds a slight 10-9 edge over the Cyclones in Ames.

Record Setting

Lyndsey Medders broke the ISU career assist record against Loyola Marymount, passing Lindsey Wilson's previous record of 589 ... Medders currently has 607 dimes and is fourth all-time in Big 12 history ... Medders also ranks 10th in school history with 1,232 points on the ISU career scoring chart ... she needs 52 points to move into ninth place ... Megan Ronhovde is just 62 points shy of becoming the 19th player in ISU history to join the 1,000-point club, as she now bas 938 career points ... she has made her way onto the ISU career rebounding charts, ranking eighth with 617, and is seven shy of seventh place ... Nicky Wieben has 29 blocked shots this season and has 88 for her career, which is good for fifth place on the Iowa State career charts ... she moved up two spots against Kansas and needs four more for fourth place ... her 29 blocks on the season is the third best by a sophomore in school history.

Easy Street

The Cyclones have shot 72.7 percent from the charity stripe this season, to rank third in the Big 12 ... head coach Bill Fennelly has made it goal for ISU to make more free throws than the opponents attempt, and so far the Cyclones have been successful ... ISU has hit 224 free throws, while opponents have attempted just 187 on the season ... against Kansas, Iowa State hit 33, while the Jayhawks attempted just five on the night.

Cyclones Making Way Through Schedule

Iowa State is 13-3 on the season, including a 10-game winning streak earlier in the season ... ISU has faced six NCAA Tournament teams from a season ago and nine of the 16 teams on ISU's schedule to this point were in the postseason last year ... the Cyclones have gone 4-2 against 2006 NCAA Tourney teams.

Off to a Strong Start

ISU's 13-1 start to the season is the best for the Cyclones since going 15-1 during the 2004-05 campaign ... Iowa State wrapped up its regular-season non-conference slate with one loss or less for the fifth time in school history, with all five coming under head coach Bill Fennelly, and started 13-1 on the season for the fifth time in the last 12 seasons.

State Champs

Iowa State claimed the mythical state championship for the second consecutive season ... the Cyclones defeated Northern Iowa, 80-74, in overtime in Cedar Falls on Nov. 20 ... then knocked off the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Hy-Vee Cy-Hawk Series in Iowa City on Nov. 30, 80-74 ... and ISU defeated Drake, 70-62, at Hilton Coliseum on Dec. 5.

Leaders of the Pack

In NCAA statistics released for games through Jan.7, the Cyclones ranked highly in a number of categories ... the Cyclones' 7.7 three-pointers per game ranked ninth nationally, while their 17.5 assists per game ranks 17th ... ISU's won-loss percentage ranks 17th, and their personal fouls per game rank 16th ... ISU's +8.4 rebound margin is 22nd and its 35.1 field goal percentage defense is 21st ... their +13.9 scoring margin is also 33rd ... individually, Lyndsey Medders ranks third with 6.7 assists per game ... Nicky Wieben's 1.9 blocks per game ranks 50th.

Big 12 Rankings

In games through Jan. 10, the Cyclones lead the Big 12 in three-point field goals per game (7.7) and assists-to-turnover ratio ... they rank third in free throw percentage (.727) and assists (17.3) ... ISU is fifth in field-goal percentage defense and fourth in rebounding margin (+7.8) ... individually, Lyndsey Medders leads the league in assists (6.5) and is 15th in individual scoring, while Nicky Wieben is 16th ... Wieben is sixth (1.8) in blocked shots ... Medders is fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio ... Heather Ezell is fifth in three-point field goals made ... Toccara Ross is fourth in free throw percentage (.826), 11th in rebounding (6.9) and 12th in field goal percentage (.511).

The Season of Giving

Iowa State has passed out 276 assists on 403 made field goals for the season, for 68.5 percent ... it is the best assist-to-field goal ratio in school history for a season and the best since the Cyclones posted 68 percent or better in back-to-back seasons in 2000-01 and 2001-02.

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 412-166 overall and 246-113 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 ... most recently she was named a top 50 finalist for the Naismith Trophy presented by Cingular Wireless ... 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

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 (106) in 12 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 ... ISU received six votes this week in the AP Poll, good for 41st place, and received five votes in the Coaches' Poll this week, which would be good for 38th 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 350 consecutive regular-season games dating back to 1995 ... that streak ranks second nationally behind Cleveland State ... 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 148-27 record (.846) in Hilton Coliseum, including a 69-3 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.

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 ... 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 ... ISU head coach Bill Fennelly finished the season one win shy of 400 career victories ... Nicky Wieben set the single-season blocked shots record (59) ... 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 ... 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) ... Iowa State made more free throws (383) than its opponents attempted (307).

Players Mentioned

Jocelyn Anderson

Kelsey Bolte

Heather Ezell

Heather Ezell

Heather Ezell

Alison Lacey

Alison Lacey

Lyndsey Medders

Lyndsey Medders

Megan Ronhovde

Megan Ronhovde

Toccara Ross

Toccara Ross

Nicky Wieben

Nicky Wieben

Nicky Wieben

Brittany Wilkins

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