Cyclones on to Manhattan for Tilt with No. 22 KSU

01.22.2008 | Women's Basketball

By: cyclones.com

Jan. 23, 2008 ? 7 p.m.

Manhattan, Kan. ? Bramlage Coliseum (13,340)

Radio: Cyclone Radio Network/Learfield

Talent: Brent Blum (pxp)

Webcast: Clone Zone

Cyclone Notebook
- Iowa State travels to No. 22 Kansas State for its third road game in its last four contests. The Cyclones will take on the Wildcats at 7 p.m., Wednesday, at Bramlage Coliseum.
- Following the game at K-State, the Cyclones will take the weekend off, before playing host to Colorado at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 30 at Hilton Coliseum.
- Iowa State frontcourt starters Toccara Ross and Nicky Wieben will miss the remainder of the 2007-08 season due to torn ACLs. Ross tore the ACL in her right knee against Minnesota and Wieben tore the ACL in her left knee at Texas. Ross is eligible for a redshirt, while Wieben is not.
- With a 76-50 win over Montana State, the Cyclones collected their 500th win in program history. They are now 508-477 overall.
- Iowa State won all three meetings with Kansas State last season, including a 57-45 win in the first round of the Big 12 Championship in Oklahoma City. The Wildcats hold a 41-24 advantage in the all-time series and a 21-9 mark in Manhattan. The Cyclones have won the last two games at Bramlage Coliseum.
- The Cyclones have won 17 straight at home against non-conference opponents. The loss to Oklahoma snapped an overall 15-game win streak for Iowa State in Hilton Coliseum.
- No. 22 Kansas State is one of just three teams left without a loss in Big 12 Conference action this season, entering the game at 12-5 overall and 4-0 in the league. The Wildcats won their first two Big 12 contests on the road at Texas A&M and Texas, and then returned home to knock off Texas Tech and Colorado.
- Subscribers to the Clone Zone will have access to seven more live game web casts of the women's basketball team, including Wednesday's game at Kansas State. To subscribe to the Clone Zone, go to Cyclones.com.
- Iowa State returned 10 letterwinners from its 2006-07 NCAA Tournament team. Last year's squad went 26-9 overall and 10-6 to finish tied for fourth in the Big 12 Conference. Iowa State lost four players from last season, including a pair of four-year starters in Lyndsey Medders and Megan Ronhovde.
- The Cyclones have added three newcomers to their roster, but only one is a freshman. Kelsey Bolte is Iowa State's only true freshman from Ida Grove, Iowa. Denae Stuckey is a sophomore transfer from Butler Community College and junior Jocelyn Anderson came to ISU from Des Moines Area Community College.
- Iowa State is coming off one of its best seasons in school history, recording a 26-9 overall record, one win shy of the school record. The Cyclones made the postseason for the 10th time in the last 11 seasons, making it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Cyclones won nine of their final 11 games of the season and won three games in as many days to make it to the title game of the Big 12 Championship against Oklahoma in Oklahoma City.
- Head coach Bill Fennelly is 271-124 at Iowa State and in his 13th season with the Cyclones. He is 437-177 in his head coaching career, which began at Toledo in 1988.

A Closer Look At Kansas State
- Kansas State ranks 22nd in this week's AP Poll, after knocking off Texas A&M and Texas in consecutive road games to open league play. The Wildcats are 12-5 on the season and one of just three teams to remain undefeated in Big 12 conference action (4-0).
- Kansas State has won its four conference games by a margin of 12.3 points per game. The Wildcats defeated Texas A&M, 67-54, in College Station, and then used an overtime period to win at Texas, 77-74. KSU suffered three straight losses in the non-conference season, falling to Wyoming, Tulane and Michigan State from Nov. 15 through Nov. 22. The Wildcats also fell at Creighton, 69-62.
- K-State is averaging 69.4 points per game and is holding opponents to 58.2 per contest. The Wildcats are shooting 45 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from beyond the arc. They have been outrebounded by 7.5 boards per game, but have committed just 12.8 turnovers per contest.
- Senior Kimberly Dietz is leading the Wildcats with 14.4 points per game, while Marlies Gipson and Shalee Lehning are pacing KSU on the boards with 7.6 and 7.5 rebounds per game, respectively. Dietz has knocked down 37 treys on the season, followed by Kari Kincaid with 24.
- Kansas State head coach Deb Patterson is in her 12th season with the Wildcats. She has led KSU to a 230-132 overall record in her tenure. She guided Kansas State to the 2005-06 WNIT Championship and has taken the Wildcats to the NCAA Tournament five times.

Quick Hits
- Iowa State is 1-3 in the Big 12 Conference, and has had four players average double figures through the first four games, led by freshman Kelsey Bolte with 21 points per contest. Alison Lacey is averaging 14.8 ppg, while Heather Ezell has contributed 10.8 ppg.Nicky Wieben posted 10.3 ppg in the Big 12 before being injured in the Texas game.
- The Cyclones have swept the state of Iowa for the last three seasons, winning all three games against instate Division I opponents. ISU knocked of Iowa, 58-44, Drake, 58-51, and Northern Iowa, 69-41, for its third straight mythical state title this season.
- The Cyclones hit 14 treys against Colorado and are now averaging 7.8 threes per game for the season. A Cyclone player has hit five or more treys in six different contests this season. Alison Lacey has hit three or more treys in seven of the last 10 games, and has hit five or more on four occasions, including knocking down seven at Colorado.
- Junior Nicky Wieben was in double digits in 11 games this season, before being sidelined for the season with a knee injury. Wieben led the Cyclones in scoring in six contests.
- Nicky Wieben and Jocelyn Anderson have combined for 70 of ISU's 92 blocked shots. Wieben averaged 2.2 blocks per game after swatting seven in the first half against Hampton. She holds the ISU class record for freshmen and sophomores and finished the season third on the junior list with 35. Anderson is now tied with Wieben on the junior list with 35 this season.
- Sophomore transfer Denae Stuckey has started every game in her initial season at Iowa State.
- Amanda Nisleit is averaging 6.2 ppg, after entering the season averaging 1.6 for her career. She is averaging 4.2 rebounds per contest after coming in posting 1.2 rpg.
- Toccara Ross earned the Cyclones' first double-double of the season against Iowa with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Kelsey Bolte got the second double-double of the season against Creighton with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Nicky Wieben added the third of the year at Colorado with 14 points and 11 boards.
- The Cyclones have been outrebounded five times this season, but they hold a +5.2 rebounding margin through 17 games.
- Junior forward Gillian Bjerke has transferred to Concordia University, St. Paul, a Division II school. Bjerke did not play for the Cyclones this season, but had played in 26 games in her career prior to this season.

Record Set
Junior Nicky Wieben broke Angie Welle's Iowa State career record for blocked shots against Texas, before suffering her season-ending knee injury. Wieben reset the record at 156 blocked shots in her first three seasons at ISU. Welle set the previous record from 1998 to 2002 with 155. Wieben is also now seventh on the Big 12 career list.

Build It and They Will Come
In the national attendance rankings which were last put out on Monday, Jan. 21, by the University of Wisconsin, ISU ranked fifth nationally in fans per game with 8,725.

Last Time Out
Iowa State got down big early and fought an uphill battle the rest of the way, falling at home to Nebraska for the first time in 10 years, 82-72, Saturday night at Hilton Coliseum. Nebraska was on fire the entire night, shooting 57.1 percent from the field and 57.9 percent from beyond the arc for the contest. The Huskers shot 50 percent from the field to take a 43-34 lead at halftime, and they only got hotter in the second half, shooting 68.2 percent from the floor. Four different Cyclones finished the game in double figures for just the fourth time this season. Freshman Kelsey Bolte led the way for the Cyclones, recording her fourth straight game with 20 points, turning in 20 points and six rebounds. Jocelyn Anderson, making the first start of her career, finished with eight points and a career-high 10 rebounds to go with three blocked shots.

Big 12 Rookie Honors
Freshman Kelsey Bolte has bee named the Big 12 Rookie of the Week for the last two weeks straight. She has been Iowa State's leading scorer through the first four games of Big 12 Conference action, averaging 21 points and six rebounds in the first four league contests. She ranks fourth in scoring in Big 12 games only. Bolte shot 64 percent from the floor and 83.3 percent (5-6) from beyond the arc against Oklahoma and Colorado. The 6-1 freshman guard was also 7-of-8 from the charity stripe and picked off five steals in the two games. In the loss to Oklahoma, Bolte was 8-of-12 from the field after missing her last three shots. She started the game 8-of-9 from the floor. In the double-overtime win at Colorado, Bolte averaged 20 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in contests against Texas and Nebraska last week. The guard shot 51.7 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from three-point range. She has scored 20 or more points in the last four games.

Reaching Milestones
Junior Nicky Wieben is 121 points shy of becoming the 19th player in Iowa State history to join the 1,000-point club. Wieben ends the season with 879 career points for the Cyclones. Heather Ezell is nearing the 750 mark, with 743 career points, and Alison Lacey hit 500 points against Nebraska, and now has 510.

Two of a Kind
Alison Lacey and Heather Ezell have combined for 84 of Iowa State's 138 three-pointers this season. Lacey is fifth in the nation in three-point percentage. She also ranks 11th in three-pointers per game, while Ezell is 75th.

Ezell hit 10 three-pointers against Sacramento State. Lacey hit nine treys in the next contest against Michigan and drained seven at Colorado. The pair knocked down nine combined three-pointers at Minnesota, 10 combined against Bowling Green and 10 combined at Colorado.

Lacey has hit a three in 16 consecutive games and Ezell has had one in 12 of the Cyclones' 17 games. Lacey has hit three or more in eight games this season, including seven of the last 10. Ezell has hit three or more five times.

It's Not the Size of the Dog in the Fight
Sophomore guard Denae Stuckey is Iowa State's smallest player on the roster, measuring 5 feet, 8 inches tall, but she is the Cyclones' active leading rebounder. Stuckey is averaging 5.2 boards per game, and she isn't just doing it on one end of the court. Stuckey has 29 offensive rebounds and 59 off the defensive glass this season.

Taking Care of the Ball
Sophomore point guard Alison Lacey is in her first season as Iowa State's starting point guard, but has aged quickly, ranking 15th nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio. She has been a key cog in making the ISU offense run this season, passing out 4.6 assists per game, while committing just two turnovers per contest. In the first four Big 12 contests, Lacey has had 22 assists and just four turnovers.

70 Is the Magic Number
ISU is 65-5 (.929) in the last five seasons when scoring 70+ points in a game. The Cyclones snapped a 24-game win streak when reaching the 70-point mark against Nebraska. The streak dated back to a 79-71 OT win over Wisconsin-Green Bay on March 16, 2006.

Getting Defensive
Iowa State has held opponents to 55.5 points per game and Nebraska is the first ISU opponent to break the 70-point mark this season. The Cyclones are also leading the nation in fewest fouls per game with 13.1 per game. ISU's opponents have shot 37.2 percent from the floor and 32.3 percent from three-point range. ISU has forced opponents into 14.2 turnovers per game. Iowa State is third in the Big 12 in scoring defense.

Nationally Speaking
ISU ranked in the top 20 in seven NCAA statistical categories, released Jan. 17, including ranking third in the nation in three-point field goals per game (8.2). The Cyclones are fifth in fewest personal fouls, 11th in fewest turnovers per game and 12th in blocked shots per game. Iowa State is 15th in scoring defense, 17th in three-point percentage and 19th in assist-to-turnover ratio. On an individual level, Alison Lacey is eighth in three-point percentage, 14th in threes per game, 10th in assist-to-turnover ratio and 62nd in assists per game. Nicky Wieben is tied for 35th in blocked shots per contest and Jocelyn Anderson is 45th in the same category.

Big 12 Rankings
As a team, Iowa State ranks in the top six of the conference in seven of 19 statistical categories. The Cyclones lead the conference in three-point field goal percentage (.385) and three-pointers per game (8.1). Iowa State is second in assist-to-turnover margin and blocked shots (5.4) per game. ISU is third in scoring defense and rebounding defense. In Big 12 games only, Iowa State is fifth in free throw percentage (.716) and second in assists (14.7). Individually, Kelsey Bolte and Alison Lacey rank first and second, respectively, in the league in three-point percentage and Lacey leads the Big 12 in three-pointers made with 2.8 per contest. Heather Ezell is seventh in three-pointers made with 2.1 pg. Lacey and Ezell also rank second and seventh, respectively, in assist-to-turnover ratio. Lacey is 15th in scoring (14.1 ppg) and Bolte is third ranks third in scoring in Big 12 games only with 21 ppg through four league contests. Lacey is fifth in assists (4.7). Nicky Wieben is 19th in scoring (12.7 ppg) and fifth in blocked shots (2.2), while teammate Jocelyn Anderson is sixth in the same category (2.1).

Down on the Block
Junior Nicky Wieben finished in double figures against Colorado (14), marking the 45th time in her ISU career she has scored in double digits and the 11th time this season to score 10+ points for the Cyclones.

Big 12 Player of the Week
Heather Ezell was named the Big 12 Player of the Week on Monday, Nov. 19, after she tied the Big 12 and Iowa State records for three-pointers in a single game, knocking down 10 in a 99-45 win over Sacramento State. She broke the Hilton Coliseum record, which was previously eight three-pointers, and she tied Stacy Frese (ISU, 1999) and Laurie Koehn (Kansas State, 2003) in the Big 12 record book.

Coaching Consistency
Iowa State has returned the same coaching staff for the last five seasons. Associate head coach Jack Easley is the newest to the staff and is in his fifth campaign with the Cyclones. Latoja Schaben is not new to the staff, but she was married during the offseason, going from Latoja Harris to Latoja Schaben. She played for Coach Fennelly at Toledo, while fellow assistant Jodi Steyer coached for Fennelly at Toledo from 1989 to 1996 and has been at Iowa State for the past five seasons.

The Votes Are In
The Iowa State women's basketball team received one votes in the AP Poll this week. Five teams in the Big 12 are currently ranked in the top 25 and four more are receiving votes. ISU got 31 votes in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll last week, moving up to rank 27th.

Coming On Board
Iowa State will add the services of three outstanding newcomers in 2008-09, head coach Bill Fennelly announced when Ashley Arlen (Cascade, Iowa), Whitney Williams (Ft. Worth, Texas) and Alexis Yackley (Onida, S.D.) each signed national letters of intent.

Arlen is a 6-1 forward, who averaged 19.2 points, 9.8 rebounds and two blocks per game, while shooting 56 percent from the field for the Cascade Bruins last season.

Williams, a 5-7 guard, plays for the Texas Home Educators Sports Association (THESA) of Fort Worth, which finished 38-12 last year under head coach Alan Burt. She hit 206 three-pointers at a 48.7 percent clip and averaged 24.3 points as a junior.

Yackley, also a 5-7 guard, has been the starting point guard for Sully Buttes High School since the eighth grade, and led the Chargers to the South Dakota State B Basketball state title last season. She was named first-team all-state as a sophomore and junior.

Fennelly's the Dean of the Big 12
With Jody Conradt stepping down as head coach at the University of Texas at the conclusion of last season, Iowa State head coach Bill Fennelly became the new dean of Big 12 coaches. Fennelly wrapped up his 12th season at Iowa State, followed closely by Deb Patterson (Kansas State) and Sherri Coale (Oklahoma), who each finished their 11th campaign at a Big 12 institution. Fennelly is second in Big 12 regular-season wins by current league coaches with 111, behind Coale (112).

Home Sweet Hilton Magic
The Cyclones have been phenomenal at home during head coach Bill Fennelly's tenure, compiling a 163-29 record (.849) in Hilton Coliseum, including a 78-3 (.963) mark against regular-season non-conference opponents. Iowa State was a last-second shot away from going undefeated at home in 2006-07, finishing with a 15-1 record at Hilton. ISU finished the 2006-07 season ranked seventh in attendance, marking the ninth consecutive season the Cyclones have ranked 11th or higher in the nation.

Trey Bien
Iowa State has made at least one three-pointer in 396 consecutive games dating back to 1995. That streak now ranks second in the nation. Canisius College unofficially holds the longest current streak at 407 consecutive games, while Iowa State is second.

NCAA Tournament Host
Iowa State will play host to the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball First and Second Rounds at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa, on March, 22 and 24, 2008. The site will host eight teams and if Iowa State is selected for the 2008 NCAA Tournament, it is guaranteed that the Cyclones will be one of the eight teams that will play in Des Moines. The teams selected to play in Des Moines will be announced on the NCAA Selection Show on ESPN Monday, March 17, 2008.

Fans can purchase all-session tickets ($35 for adults and $20 for students and youth) and single-session tickets ($15 for adults and $10 for students and youth per session). A single-session ticket will be available the week of the event and each session will include two games. Anyone 18 and under and all college students qualify for the student/youth fee. Fans can purchase tickets online at www.dahlstickets.com or by calling 1-8866-55DAHLS (866-553-2457).

Preseason Picks
The Iowa State women's basketball team was picked sixth by the Big 12 Conference coaches in the 2007-08 preseason poll. Iowa State was ranked 36th by CBSSports.com in its preseason magazine. The Cyclones were one of seven teams from the Big 12 ranked by the magazine.