Cyclones Hit the Road for Six Straight

11.18.2008 | Women's Basketball

By: cyclones.com

AMES, Iowa - Iowa State begins its six-game road trip Thursday when the Cyclones travel to Northern Iowa. ISU will take on UNI at the McLeod Center at 7 p.m. Iowa State will then face another Missouri Valley Conference foe on Sunday when the Cyclones take on Creighton at 2 p.m. in Omaha.

Who: Iowa State (1-0) vs. Northern Iowa (1-0)
When: Thursday, Nov. 20, 7 p.m.
Where: Cedar Falls, Iowa ? McLeod Center (7,043)
Live Stats: Live stats will be available at unipanthers.com
Live Video: Live video will be available at unipanthers.com

Complete Pre-Event Coverage
Notes		Live Stats

Cyclone Notebook
? After this week's road games, Iowa State will head to Honolulu, Hawaii, for the Waikiki Beach Marriott Classic over Thanksgiving. The Cyclones will take on eighth-ranked Stanford while on Oahu, as well as San Diego State and Prairie View A&M.
? ISU's six consecutive games away from Hilton Coliseum represents the Cyclone's longest regular-season stint away from Ames since playing nine straight in Bill Fennelly's inaugural season at ISU (1995-96). That season Iowa State played 13 of its first 14 away from Hilton.
? The Cyclones are 28-8 all-time against UNI and are 10-7 vs. the Panthers in Cedar Falls. Iowa State has won five straight against UNI and has won 10 of the last 11. Five of those 11 games have been decided by 10 or fewer points.
? Iowa State defeated the Panthers 69-41 last season in Ames as the Cyclones shot 49 percent from the field and outrebounded UNI, 45-24. Two seasons ago in Cedar Falls, however, the Cyclones needed an overtime period to defeat the Panthers, 80-74. That game was UNI's opener in the new McLeod Center.
? Over the next month, the Cyclones will face three teams ranked in the top half of the Missouri Valley Conference in the preseason poll. Creighton (Nov. 23) was chosen second, Drake (Dec. 11) was picked third and UNI was selected fifth. Iowa State is 77-47 all-time against MVC teams.
? Iowa State opened the regular season Sunday with a 77-45 win over UMKC. Alison Lacey and Ashley Arlen added 12 points apiece and Arlen led the team with nine rebounds. All 13 available players saw action for the Cyclones, with 11 of the 13 finding the scoring column. ISU shot 40.3 percent from the field and collected 59 rebounds, its best performance on the glass since pulling down 64 vs. UC-Riverside in 2005.
? ISU is in its 36th season of women's basketball and its 14th season under head coach Bill Fennelly. Iowa State is 518-485 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.
? Head coach Bill Fennelly is 281-132 at Iowa State and in his 14th season with the Cyclones. He is 447-185 in his head coaching career, which began at Toledo in 1988.

A Closer Look At Northern Iowa
? Northern Iowa opened the regular season with a 77-73 win at North Dakota State last Friday. The Panthers shot 53.8 percent from the field and 52.4 percent (11-21) from three-point range. Nicole Clausen drained six three-pointers and finished with 27 points, while K.K. Armstrong contributed 25 points for UNI.
? UNI dropped its only exhibition game of the preseason, falling to Winona State 71-66, at the McLeod Center.
? Sophomore Jacqui Kalin was selected to the MVC Preseason All-Conference team by the league's coaches, SIDs and media. Kalin was the 2008 MVC Freshman of the Year, and she earned second-team all-conference honors following that season.
? Northern Iowa finished 13-18 overall last season and 8-10 in the Valley. The Panthers return four regular starters aw well as their top three scorers from a season ago. UNI shot 39.2 percent from the floor for the season, while hitting 30.4 percent from beyond the arc.
? UNI head coach Tanya Warren is in her second season at the helm of the Panther program. Warren led UNI to a 13-18 overall record and a sixth-place finish in the MVC with a young squad. Warren was an assistant coach at UNI from 1995 to 2001 under Tony DiCecco. She also served as a Cyclone assistant coach in the 1994-95 season. She played at Creighton and still holds the school career and season records assists.

Cyclones on the Web
u 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: 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).

The Votes Are In
Iowa State is ranked 24th in the first regular-season ESPN/USA Today Coaches' poll. The Cyclones are also receiving enough votes in the Associated Press Top 25 to rank just outside of the top 25, sitting in 27th place. The Cyclones received votes in both polls in the preseason, but moved into the actual top 25 this week. Iowa State was also chosen 22nd in ESPN.com's preseason poll.

Making the Connection
Shellie Mosman played on an IBCA AAU Team with Nicole Clausen, Danielle Wubbens, Lindsey Swanson, Erin Brocka, Jacqui Kalin, and Alexa Mennen. Denae Stuckey and Toccara Ross worked a summer camp in Tama, Iowa, with Kalin. Ross was also high school rivals with Rachel Yeggy.

Looking for 1,000
The Cyclones could have three different players hit the 1,000-point milestone this season. Heather Ezell (936), Nicky Wieben (889) and Alison Lacey (767) are all within striking distance of reaching the mark. Ezell is the closest, needing just 64 points. Eighteen players in school history have already reached the mark and the most recent addition to the 1,000-point club is Megan Ronhovde, who finished her caeer with 1,094 points in 2006-07.

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 in exhibition action. 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. Against UMKC, the pair combined for 14 points, four assists and four 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 in her junior campaign for the Cyclones. The Canberra, Australia, native played the point for Iowa State last season, but has moved 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.

Running, Running, Running
Junior Anna Florzak turned in her basketball sneakers for a pair of running shoes during the Fall. The ISU basketball letterwinner made her debut as a two-sport athlete with the Cyclone cross country team this season. Florzak has now rejoined the basketball squad full-time since the cross country season has concluded. The Kansas City, Mo., native was an outstanding prep cross country runner and has regularly finished fourth for the Cyclones this season. She finished 46th at the Big 12 Championship and 56th at the NCAA Regional meet.

Home Sweet Hilton Magic
The Cyclones have been phenomenal at home during head coach Bill Fennelly's tenure, compiling a 168-31 record (.844) in Hilton Coliseum, including a 79-3 (.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 2007-08 season ranked fourth in attendance, marking the 10th consecutive season the Cyclones have ranked 11th or higher in the nation.

Trey Bien
Iowa State has made at least one three-pointer in 415 consecutive games dating back to 1995. That streak now ranks second in the nation. Canisius College unofficially holds the longest current streak at 420 consecutive games, while Iowa State is second.

Coaching Consistency
Iowa State has returned the same coaching staff for the last six seasons. Associate head coach Jack Easley is the newest to the staff and just finished his fifth campaign with the Cyclones. Latoja Schaben 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 seven seasons.