Completed Event: Women's Basketball versus UCF on January 31, 2026 , Win , 65, to, 52
Final
Women's Basketball
65
UCF
52
Iowa State University Athletics
UMKC Kangaroos Up First For Cyclones
11.13.2008 | Women's Basketball
AMES, Iowa - After a pair of exhibition routs, the Iowa State women's basketball team will tip off the 2008-09 regular season Sunday vs. the UMKC Kangaroos at 1 p.m. in Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones will play their final home game Sunday before hitting the road for six straight contests, beginning Nov. 20 at Northern Iowa.
Who: Iowa State (0-0) vs. UMKC (0-0)
When: Sunday, Nov. 16, 1 p.m.
Where: Hilton Coliseum (14,356)
Live Stats: Live stats will be available at cyclones.com.
Live Video: Live video will be available to Clone Zone subscribers.
Complete Pre-Event Coverage
Cyclone Notebook
? After a pair of exhibition routs, the Iowa State women's basketball team will tip off the 2008-09 regular season Sunday vs. the UMKC Kangaroos at 1 p.m. in Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones will play their final home game Sunday before hitting the road for six straight contests, beginning Nov. 20 at Northern Iowa.
? ISU will hit the road for two games against Missouri Valley Conference foes (UNI, Nov. 20; Creighton, Nov. 23), before traveling to Honolulu, Hawaii, for the Waikiki Beach Marriott Classic over Thanksgiving. The Cyclones will take on second-ranked Stanford while on Oahu, as well as San Diego State and Prairie View A&M.
? Iowa State claimed exhibition wins over Buena Vista (74-37) and Missouri Western State (80-55). Seniors Heather Ezell and Nicky Wieben had outstanding performances in their exhibition tests. Ezell averaged 15 points per game, including hitting six treys against Missouri Western. Wieben looked strong as well, averaging 13 points and going 10-of-15 from the field, in her first two games back after undergoing knee surgery last season due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Freshman Ashley Arlen had a great second-half performance against MWSU, finishing with 10 points and seven boards against the Griffons. And freshmen Alexis Yackley and Whitney Williams combined for 12 assists in their debuts at the point for the Cyclones.
? ISU is beginning its 36th season of women's basketball and its 14th season under head coach Bill Fennelly. Iowa State is 517-485 in school history.
? Iowa State is coming off a 21-13 campaign in 2007-08. The Cyclones made it to the second round of the NCAA Championship a year ago, defeating Georgia Tech in the first round and falling to Rutgers in the second. ISU finished 7-9 in the Big 12 for a seventh-place tie with Texas in the final league standings. The Cyclones made it to the Big 12 Championship semifinals by defeating Colorado, 76-50, and 15th-ranked and regular-season Big 12 champ Kansas State, 66-65, in an overtime thriller.
? Iowa State front court starters Toccara Ross and Nicky Wieben missed the majority of the 2007-08 season due to torn ACLs. Ross tore the ACL in her right knee at Minnesota and Wieben tore the ACL in her left knee at Texas. Ross was eligible for a redshirt season since she had only played in nine games.
? Head coach Bill Fennelly is 280-132 at Iowa State and in his 14th season with the Cyclones. He is 446-185 in his head coaching career, which began at Toledo in 1988.
Cyclones on the Web
At least 16 Iowa State women's basketball games will be broadcast on the internet on the Clone Zone at cyclones.com. Fans can purchase monthly memberships for $8.95 or annual memberships for $79.95. Memberships also allow fans to view press conferences and special interviews with members of the Cyclone women's basketball team. The Clone Zone will broadcast the following games this season: Buena Vista (Nov. 2), Missouri Western State (Nov. 9), at Creighton (Nov. 23), Drake (Dec. 11), Detroit Mercy (Dec. 14), Minnesota (Dec. 21), Niagara (Dec. 29), North Dakota/Lamar (Dec. 30), Vanderbilt (Jan. 3), IPFW (Jan. 7), Missouri (Jan. 21), Kansas State (Jan. 31), Texas A&M (Feb. 4), Nebraska (Feb. 18), Colorado (Feb. 25) and Kansas (March 7).
A Closer Look At UMKC
? UMKC picked up a 96-61 exhibition win over Rockhurst last Saturday. The Kangaroos were led by Chazny Morris with 26 points and eight rebounds. Four UMKC players finished in double figures for the contest.
? The Kangaroos were 11-20 overall last season and were picked to finish eighth this year in the Summit League Preseason Poll. Morris was named to the Summit League Preseason First Team.
? UMKC has nine newcomers this season, including seven true freshmen.
? Head coach Candace Whitaker is in her third season with the Kangaroos. She is 19-31 overall in her two seasons at the helm. Whitaker was the starting point guard on Texas Tech's Sweet 16 teams in 2001 and 2002.
? In UMKC's lone exhibition contest, Morris and Heather Davis each hit five treys apiece. As a team, the Kangaroos shot 48.4 percent from the floor and 45.5 percent from beyond the arc. UMKC outrebounded Rockhurst, 44-31, and collected 14 steals.
Outside the Lines
Senior Heather Ezell went on a three-point shooting spree to end the 2007-08 season, and she picked up where she left off against Missouri Western last Sunday. The Springfield, Mo., native averaged 3.3 treys per game over the last 11 contests of last season, including back-to-back games in the Big 12 Championship with seven and eight treys each. Ezell knocked down six field goals from beyond the arc against Missouri Western, including three in a minute and a half stretch.
Revolving Door
Four players could see time at point guard for the Cyclones this season. Heather Ezell will get the starting nod early in the season. The coaching staff would like to see Alison Lacey settle at shooting guard, her more natural position, but because of her success at the point last season, she will see some time there as well. Freshmen Alexis Yackley and Whitney William each saw significant time at the point during exhibition play, with Yackley earning the start vs. Buena Vista. As they both become more comfortable, the freshman duo will see more time at the position. In two exhibition games, the four players combined for 25 assists and 11 turnovers.
A Sign of the Times
Head coach Bill Fennelly and ISU players will post weekly blogs at cyclones.com throughout the school year. Each Tuesday a new blog will be posted, with Fennelly chiming in once about every four weeks. Coach Fennelly will talk about how practice is going, how the team is doing, and what he considers the staples of the ISU women's basketball program. Student-athletes will talk each week about their perspective of school life, practices, games, and the daily hurdles of being a Division I student-athlete.
Stiff Competition
Iowa State will play one of the most difficult schedules in the country this season, facing four teams from last season's NCAA Sweet 16 (Stanford, Vanderbilt, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M), including three at Hilton Coliseum. Seventeen of Iowa State's 25 opponents for the 2008-09 campaign saw postseason action a year ago, and 11 of those 17 were in the NCAA Championship.
Early Attention for the Cyclones
Iowa State was picked to finish third in the 2008-09 Big 12 preseason poll, voted on by the league's coaches. It is the highest preseason pick for the Cyclones since 2001-02 when Iowa State was also chosen third. Oklahoma was picked as the preseason favorite by the league coaches, but five different teams received first-place votes, including two for the Cyclones. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team. Texas was picked to finish second, just two points ahead of Iowa State and Baylor was chosen fourth, just four points behind ISU.
Lacey Picks Up All-Big 12 Preseason Honors
Alison Lacey was chosen as an honorable-mention pick to the 2008 preseason All-Big 12 team. Lacey is entering her junior campaign for the Cyclones. The Canberra, Australia, native played the point for Iowa State last season, but will move back to her more natural position of shooting guard this year. She was named to the All-Big 12 Second Team following a successful sophomore campaign.
Cyclones Ink Four in 2009 Class
The Cyclones will graduate five players following the 2008-09 season, making the 2009-10 recruiting class all the more important. During the early signing period, ISU head coach Bill Fennelly signed four outstanding players to National Letters of Intent: Amanda Zimmerman (Huxley, Iowa), Chelsea Poppens (Aplington, Iowa), Anna Prins (Broomfield, Colo.) and Jessica Schroll (Midland, Mich.). The quartet had a total of 3,820 career points between them going into their senior seasons, despite Schroll missing the entire 2007-08 season and Prins missing part of her freshman campaign with injuries.
Players Mentioned
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