Cyclones Travel to No. 22 Nebraska

01.29.2007 | Women's Basketball

By: Iowa State University

AMES, Iowa - The Iowa State women's basketball team travels to Lincoln, Neb., to face the 22nd-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers at 7 p.m. Wednesday ... the Cyclones split Big 12 contests last week, falling 69-49, at No. 6 Oklahoma and earning a 73-68 win over Kansas State ... the Cyclones are 16-5 on the season and 4-4 in the Big 12 ... ISU is 11-1 at Hilton this season and 3-4 in true road games ... the Cyclones wrapped up the non-conference slate at 12-1 overall ... Nebraska is 17-4 on the season and 5-2 in the league, which is good for a three-way tie for second place in the conference ... the Cyclones split meetings with the Huskers last season, with ISU falling 54-42 in their most recent meeting on Feb. 1, 2006, at the Devaney Center ... the Cyclones have not won in Lincoln since 2003, the season before the current ISU seniors were on campus ... in the Cyclones' win over Loyola Marymount, ISU senior All-America candidate Lyndsey Medders broke the Iowa State career assist record and now has 638 ... she leads the Cyclones with 12.7 points and 6.4 assists per game ... Toccara Ross leads the Cyclones on the glass with 7.5 rpg ... Nicky Wieben has moved into third place on the ISU career chart (99) and needs just three to move into second place.

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 Nebraska game will be shown live via a webcast at Cyclones.com for fans everywhere to enjoy ... the video feed will be streamed using the videoboard feed from the Devaney Sports Center ... this exclusive premium content comes to fans with a subscription to the Clone Zone.

Last Time Out

Freshman Alison Lacey had a career night for ISU as she led the Cyclones to a 73-68 win over Kansas State in Big 12 Conference action Saturday afternoon at Hilton Coliseum in front of 10,877 fans ... Lacey posted a career-high 25 points on 8-of-11 shooting, including a 4-of-7 mark from beyond the arc ... she grabbed five rebounds and handed out three assists in the victory ... the game was tied eight times and the lead changed hands 17 times ... Lacey hit the biggest three of her young career to break a 60-60 tie and give Iowa State the lead for good ... the Cyclones took their largest lead of the second half, 44-39, on a trey by Heather Ezell with 17:30 to go in the game, and from there it was a shootout ... every time Iowa State found a way to score, Kansas State had an answer ... the Wildcats hit 11 three-pointers in the contest, knocking down one after the next in key situations to tie or regain the lead ... Toccara Ross finished the game with 16 points and eight rebounds for ISU, and Nicky Wieben finished with 11 points and three boards, going 4-of-8 from the floor and hitting her only three-point try ... senior Lyndsey Medders finished the afternoon with 10 assists, improving her school record to 638 ... three players finished in double figures for Kansas State as well, led by Kimberly Dietz with 25 points and Claire Coggins with 21 ... the K-State pair finished with all 11 Wildcat three-pointers ... Iowa State shot 48.1 percent for the contest and 38.1 percent from beyond the arc, while KSU shot 43.1 percent and 45.8 percent from long range ... the Cyclones outrebounded the Wildcats, 36-28, and had 19 assists to just 10 turnovers.

About the Cyclones

Iowa State has used four different starting lineups this season ... ISU is 16-5 on the year and 4-4 in the Big 12 ... ISU is 11-1 at Hilton Coliseum this year ... ISU is outscoring opponents by a margin of +10.3, and is averaging 69.6 ppg ... the Cyclones are shooting 42.8 percent from the field and 34 percent from three-point range ... ISU has outrebounded opponents with a +6 margin ... Iowa State is in its 34th season of women's basketball and holds a 486-468 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 Huskers

Nebraska was ranked 25th in the AP and Coaches' Polls last week ... the Huskers are 17-4 on the season and are in a three-way tie for second place in the Big 12 with a 5-2 league record ... NU has used the same starting lineup, featuring four seniors, in all 21 games this season ... the Huskers are led by sophomore Kelsey Griffin with 16.2 points and 8.6 rebounds a contest ... she is followed closely by senior Kiera Hardy with 15.9 points and 2.9 assists per game ... the Huskers' only two league losses have come vs. Oklahoma and Texas A&M ... NU also fell to Minnesota at home on Dec. 5 ... Nebraska has averaged 74.5 points per game as a team and is shooting 46.2 percent from the field ... the Huskers have held opponents to 39.1 percent shooting and 62.5 ppg for a +12 scoring margin ... Nebraska is outrebounding opponents with a +3.8 margin, but is averaging 16.9 turnovers to 14.5 assists per contest ... the Huskers are 7-2 at the Devaney Center this season and have averaged 3,421 fans per game.

The Series

The Huskers hold a 35-29 advantage in the all-time series with Iowa State, holding an 18-10 lead in Lincoln ... the Cyclones won 10 straight meetings between 2000 and 2003, but the two teams have split home-and-away games every season since ... the current ISU seniors have never won in Lincoln and have never lost to the Huskers in Ames .... Nebraska won the last meeting between the two teams, 54-42, in Lincoln on Feb. 1, 2006.

Record Setting

Lyndsey Medders broke the ISU career assist record against Loyola Marymount, passing Lindsey Wilson's previous record of 589 ... Medders currently has 638 dimes and is fourth all-time in Big 12 history ... Medders also ranks ninth in school history with 1,295 points on the ISU career scoring chart ... she needs 62 points to move into eighth place ... Megan Ronhovde is just 29 points shy of becoming the 19th player in ISU history to join the 1,000-point club, as she now has 971 career points ... she has made her way onto the ISU career rebounding charts, ranking seventh with 632, and ranks third in three-point field goal makes with 217 ... Nicky Wieben has 40 blocked shots this season and has 99 for her career, which is good for third place on the Iowa State career charts ... she needs three to move into second place ... her 40 blocks on the season is an ISU sophomore record.

Lacey Named Big 12 Rookie of the Week

Freshman Alison Lacey was named the Phillips 66 Big 12 Women's basketball Rookie of the Week by a media voting panel for games Jan. 22-28 ... with the honor, Lacey is the third ISU newcomer to win the honor this season ... ISU has claimed the award for the second consecutive week ... Lacey bounced back after having a rough game at Oklahoma, to have a career game in the Cyclones' win over Kansas State ... she had a career-high 25 points, five rebounds, three assists, and did not commit a turnover in 36 minutes vs. the Wildcats ... the Canberra, Australia, native was 8-of-11 from the field, including going 4-of-7 from three-point range, and 5-of-8 from the charity stripe in the ISU victory ... she played the biggest game of her young career, after going for two points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals at Oklahoma ... for the week, Lacey led the Cyclones in scoring with 13.5 ppg and shot 50 percent (8-16) from the floor and 40 percent (4-10) from long range ... she hit a three-pointer to break a 60-60 tie with KSU and put Iowa State ahead for good ... last week, Toccara Ross was named the Big 12 Rookie of the Week, while senior Lyndsey Medders was named Big 12 Player of the Week ... fellow ISU freshman, Rachel Pierson, also won the Big 12's Rookie of the Week honor for the week of Dec. 3-10.

Shutting Down the Opposition

The Cyclones shut down the opponent's top scorer in three straight games, holding Texas' Tiffany Jackson to seven points on 3-of-19 shooting, Kansas' Kelly Kohn to three points on 1-of-9 shooting, and OU's Courtney Paris to 14 points on 6-of-13 shooting ... Jackson came into the contest averaging 19.9 points per game, while Kohn came in averaging 11.2 ppg and Paris came in with 23.1 ppg... combined, the three went 7-of-41 (17.1 percent) from the field against the Cyclones.

Against the Top 25

ISU's 67-56 win over No. 22 Texas was the Cyclones' first win over a ranked team since a 73-69 win over No. 13 Texas on Feb. 5, 2005 ... with the loss to No. 6 Oklahoma, Iowa State is now 37-102 all-time against ranked teams and 31-43 against ranked teams under Bill Fennelly.

Easy Street

The Cyclones have shot 73.3 percent from the charity stripe this season, to rank second in the Big 12 ... head coach Bill Fennelly has made it a goal for ISU to make more free throws than the opponents attempt, and so far the Cyclones have been successful ... ISU has hit 286 free throws, while opponents have attempted just 239 on the season ... against Kansas on Jan. 3, Iowa State hit 33, while the Jayhawks attempted just five on the night.

Cyclones Making Way Through Schedule

Iowa State is 16-5 on the season, including a 10-game winning streak earlier in the season ... ISU has faced eight NCAA Tournament teams from a season ago and 12 of the 20 teams on ISU's schedule to this point were in the postseason last year ... the Cyclones have gone 5-3 against 2006 NCAA Tourney teams.

Fast 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.28, the Cyclones rank highly in a number of categories ... the Cyclones' 7.6 three-pointers per game rank 12th nationally, while their 16.3 assists per game rank 29th ... ISU's personal fouls per game rank 18th ... the Cyclones' 36.0 field goal percentage defense is 26th and their +6 rebound margin is 32nd ... their +10.3 scoring margin is also 47th ... individually, Lyndsey Medders ranks fifth with 6.4 assists per game ... Nicky Wieben's 1.9 blocks per game ranks 45th and Toccara Ross' 80.8 free throw percentage is ranked 98th.

Big 12 Rankings

In games through Jan. 28, the Cyclones lead the Big 12 in three-point field goals per game (7.6) and assist-to-tuurnover ratio ... they rank second in free throw percentage (.733) and third in assists (16.3) ... ISU is fifth in field-goal percentage (.428) and field-goal percentage defense (.360) and fourth in rebounding margin (+6) ... individually, Lyndsey Medders leads the league in assists (6.4) and is 16th in individual scoring with 12.7 ppg ... Nicky Wieben is 18th in scoring and sixth (1.9) in blocked shots ... Medders is second in assist-to-turnover ratio ... Medders is fourth and Heather Ezell is ninth in three-point field goals made ... Toccara Ross is sixth and Wieben is seventh in free throw percentage ... Ross is 11th in rebounding (7.5).

The Season of Giving

Iowa State has passed out 343 assists on 508 made field goals for the season, for 67.5 percent ... it is the best assist-to-field goal ratio since the Cyclones posted 68 percent or better in back-to-back seasons in 2000-01 and 2001-02 and the third best for a season in school history.

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 415-168 overall and 249-115 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 as a top 30 finalist for the Senior CLASS Award ... she is a top 50 finalist for the Naismith Trophy presented by Cingular Wireless ... was named to the Women's John R. Wooden Award Preseason All-America Team ... was also named one of the nation's top five point guards by ESPN.com ... 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 (109) 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 and moved back into the AP rankings last week and got nine votes to rank 39th this week ... ISU remained in the Coaches' Poll last week with four votes, which would be good for 36th 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 355 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 150-27 record (.847) 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).