Cyclones Close Homestand with No. 17 K-State

02.12.2008 | Women's Basketball

By: cyclones.com

Iowa State (15-7, 4-5) vs. No. 17 (16-6, 8-1)

Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2008 ? 7:07 p.m.

Ames, Iowa ? Hilton Coliseum (14,356)

Radio: Cyclone Radio Network/Learfield

Talent: Rich Fellingham (pxp); Brent Blum (color)

Television: Mediacom

Talent: BJ Schaben (pxp); Lyndsey Medders (color)

Webcast: Clone Zone

Cyclone Notebook
- Iowa State will play the final of three straight home games on Wednesday when the Cyclones play host to No. 17 Kansas State at 7 p.m. at Hilton Coliseum. The Wildcats won the first meeting of the season in Manhattan, Kan., 80-49, on Jan. 23.
- Iowa State's next four opponents, including Kansas State, are ranked in AP Top 25. They are all four ranked 20th or higher. Following the game against Kansas State, ISU will travel to No. 15 Oklahoma State on Sunday and No. 20 Texas A&M the following Wednesday. Then the Cyclones will play host to No. 8 Baylor on Feb. 23.
- Iowa State front court 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.
- Iowa State will return its entire roster next season. Ross was ISU's only senior and should be eligible for another year of competition after her season-ending injury.
- With a 76-50 win over Montana State, the Cyclones collected their 500th win in program history. They are now 511-479 overall. ISU is 10 games shy of 1,000 contests in school history.
- Kansas State leads the all-time series with Iowa State, 42-24. The Wildcats won, 80-49, earlier this season in Manhattan. Prior to that game, Iowa State won four straight against KSU.
- 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.
- Kansas State is 16-6 overall and 8-1 in the Big 12, a half a game behind Baylor (9-1) for the conference lead. The Wildcats' only loss in the league came at the hands of Baylor, 63-49, on Feb. 2.
- Subscribers to the Clone Zone will have access to three more live game web casts of the women's basketball team, including Wednesday's game against 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 added three newcomers to their roster this season, 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 274-126 at Iowa State and in his 13th season with the Cyclones. He is 440-179 in his head coaching career, which began at Toledo in 1988.

A Closer Look At Kansas State
- No. 17 Kansas State has won 11 of its last 12 games for a 16-6 overall record and an 8-1 mark in the Big 12. The Wildcats' lone loss came at home to Big 12 leader Baylor, 63-49, on Feb. 2.
- K-State is averaging 69.0 points per game and is holding opponents to 57.3 per contest. The Wildcats are shooting 45.4 percent from the field and 36.6 percent from beyond the arc. They have a +1 rebounding margin for the season, and have committed 14.4 turnovers per contest.
- Senior Kimberly Dietz is leading the Wildcats with 15.2 points per game, while Marlies Gipson is pacing KSU on the boards with 8.3 rebounds per game, respectively. Dietz has knocked down 54 treys on the season. Shalee Lehning is averaging 6.5 assists per contest to lead the conference.
- Kansas State head coach Deb Patterson is in her 12th season with the Wildcats. She has led KSU to a 234-133 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 4-5 in the Big 12 Conference, and has had three players average double figures in league games, led by Alison Lacey with 16.1 points per contest. Freshman Kelsey Bolte is averaging 16.0 ppg. Nicky Wieben posted 10.3 ppg in the Big 12 before being sidelined for the rest of the season with an injury in the Texas game. Heather Ezell has posted 9.4 points a game in conference action.
- 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.
- Freshman Kelsey Bolte scored 20 or more points in each of her first four Big 12 games and contributed double figures in the first seven league games this season. She is averaging 16 ppg in conference play to rank eighth in the Big 12.
- The Cyclones hit 10 treys at home against Colorado and are now averaging 7.7 threes per game for the season. A Cyclone player has hit five or more treys in seven different contests this season. Alison Lacey has hit three or more treys in 10 of the last 15 games, and has hit five or more on five occasions, including knocking down five vs. Texas Tech.
- 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 83 of ISU's 113 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 fourth on the junior list with 35. Anderson holds the junior class record with 48 blocked shots this season and is averaging 2.2 per contest.
- Amanda Nisleit is averaging 6.3 ppg, after entering the season averaging 1.6 for her career. She is averaging 4.5 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. Alison Lacey claimed the fourth double-double of the season and came very close to a triple-double vs. Missouri with 14 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.
- 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, Feb. 11, by the University of Wisconsin, ISU ranked fifth nationally in fans per game with 9,074.

Last Time Out
- The Cyclones used a 10-0 run to open the second half to defeat Missouri, 64-46, Saturday night at Hilton Coliseum. Four Cyclones finished in double figures, led by Jocelyn Anderson's career-high 15 points. Alison Lacey came close to a triple-double with 14 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. Heather Ezell and Amanda Nisleit each had 11 points. Iowa State shot 48.8 percent for the contest and played one of its best defensive games of the season, holding Mizzou to 35.3 percent shooting. The Cyclones outrebounded the Tigers, 38-23, and hit 16 free throws while MU knocked down only four.

Dynamic Duo
- Combined, Alison Lacey and Kelsey Bolte have gone 95-for-210 from three-point range this season, good for 45.2 percent. The pair ranks first and second, respectively, in the Big 12 in three-point accuracy.

Bench Production
- Since freshman Kelsey Bolte and junior Jocelyn Anderson have entered the starting lineup full-time, the Cyclone bench production has dropped off significantly. Going into the game at Texas, Iowa State was averaging 18.6 points per game off the bench. In the last six games, the Cyclone bench has produced just 27 points for a 4.5 ppg average.

Weekly Big 12 Honors
- Iowa State has earned four Big 12 weekly honors this season, with accolades most recently going to sophomore point guard Alison Lacey. Lacey was named Big 12 Player of the Week Monday after she averaged 23 points, six rebounds, and five assists in Iowa State's wins over Texas Tech and Missouri last week. In the Cyclones' win over Texas Tech, Lacey tallied 32 points, including 5 three-pointers. She went 11-of-23 from the floor and 5-of-11 from long-range. Against the Tigers, Lacey came close to her first career triple-double with 14 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.

Freshman Kelsey Bolte was named Big 12 Rookie of the Week during the first two weeks of conference play, after opening conference play with four straight games with 20+ points.

Junior Heather Ezell was named 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.

Bolte Breaks Into Her Own
- Freshman Kelsey Bolte was Iowa State's leading scorer through the first eight games of Big 12 Conference action. She currently ranks eighth in scoring in Big 12 games only. She scored 20+ points in each of her first four Big 12 Conference games, the first time a freshman has accomplished such a feat. 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. Bolte averaged 20 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in contests against Texas and Nebraska. The 6-1 guard shot 51.7 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from three-point range.

Two of a Kind
- Alison Lacey and Heather Ezell have combined for 103 of Iowa State's 169 three-pointers this season. Lacey is seventh in the nation in three-point percentage. She also ranks 10th in three-pointers per game.

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-pointer in all but one game this season. Ezell has had one in 15 of the Cyclones' 22 games. Lacey has hit three or more in 11 games this season, including 10 of the last 15. Ezell has hit three or more five times.

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 41st nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio. She has been a key cog in making the ISU offense run this season, passing out 4.3 assists per game, while committing just 2.3 turnovers per contest. In Big 12 contests, Lacey has had 38 assists and 21 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 55.7 points per game and Nebraska and Kansas State are the only two teams to break the 70-point mark in regulation against ISU this season. The Cyclones are second in the nation in fewest fouls per game with 13.0 per game. ISU's opponents have shot 37.9 percent from the floor and 31.7 percent from three-point range. ISU has forced opponents into 15.1 turnovers per game.

Nationally Speaking
- ISU ranked in the top 25 in six NCAA statistical categories, released Feb. 11, including ranking second in the nation in fewest personal fouls per game. The Cyclones are sixth in three-pointers per game (7.7), 25th in three-point percentage (.374), 16th in blocked shots per game (5.1) and 22nd in turnovers per game (14.6). Iowa State is also 22nd in scoring defense. On an individual level, Alison Lacey is sixth in three-point percentage, ninth in threes per game, 37th in assist-to-turnover ratio and 81st in assists per game. Jocelyn Anderson is 33rd in blocked shots. Heather Ezell is 70th in assist-to-turnover ratio as well.

Big 12 Rankings
- As a team, Iowa State ranks in the top six of the conference in eight of 19 statistical categories. The Cyclones lead the conference in three-point field goal percentage (.374) and three-pointers per game (7.7). Iowa State is second in assist-to-turnover margin, rebounding defense and scoring defense. ISU is fourth in blocked shots. In Big 12 games only, Iowa State is fourth in assists (12.0). Individually, Alison Lacey and Kelsey Bolte 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 1.9 pg and Bolte is 12th (1.5). Lacey and Ezell also rank third and seventh, respectively, in assist-to-turnover ratio. Lacey is ninth in scoring (14.8 ppg). Lacey is fourth in assists (4.3). Jocelyn Anderson is sixth in blocked shots per game (2.2).

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.

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.

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 114, behind Coale (117).

Home Sweet Hilton Magic
- The Cyclones have been phenomenal at home during head coach Bill Fennelly's tenure, compiling a 166-29 record (.851) 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 401 consecutive games dating back to 1995. That streak now ranks second in the nation. Canisius College unofficially holds the longest current streak at 414 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).