Bolte?s Bombs Help ISU Defeat Georgia Tech, 58-55

DES MOINES, Iowa? Kelsey Bolte buried a career-high five 3-pointers and scored 15 points in the second half, as Iowa State held off a late Georgia Tech rally en route to a 58-55 victory in first-round NCAA Tournament action Saturday afternoon in Des Moines. The win, which improves ISU to 21-12 on the season, sets up a showdown vs. Rutgers Monday evening in the second round.

The Cyclones held a 13-point lead with 8:52 left in the game, but Georgia Tech closed the gap to one point on two occasions and missed a pair of shots to tie the game before the final horn.

"It was a great college game," ISU head coach Bill Fennelly said. "It's what the NCAA Tournament is all about. We were fortunate that we made one more play than Georgia Tech. The two things we have stressed since March has been no excuses, no regrets and no excuse to lose."

"In the first half I was nervous," Bolte said. "At halftime my teammates kept telling me to shoot. There were so many fans here supporting us and it helped to build my confidence. It has always been my dream to be able to play in the NCAA Tournament and I am just glad to be a part of it."

ISU secured the victory despite its two leading scorers (Heather Ezell and Alison Lacey) failing to post double figures. However, the other three starters, Bolte, Jocelyn Anderson and Amanda Nisleit, stepped up their games, tallying 19, 12 and 11 points, respectively, to put ISU back into the NCAA second round for the second consecutive season. Nisleit tied a career high with 12 caroms to lead ISU on the boards and give the junior her first career double-double.

"It's one of those days you don't expect from a freshman," Fennelly commented about Bolte. "What helps Kelsey the most is that she is a very easy-going kid. We told her to keep shooting and not to worry."

Georgia Tech dictated the tempo early, flustering the Cyclones with its full court pressure. The Yellow Jackets tallied six steals and forced nine ISU turnovers in the first nine minutes of the game to take a 9-6 lead.

"To their credit, they just kept coming after us," Fennelly said. "They stole the ball and made lay-ups. It was feast or famine there for awhile. Their defense is to gamble with pressure. They believe in their style of play and it got them to the tournament."

Despite its early miscues, ISU stayed in the game with its defense. The Cyclone zone kept the ball out of the paint and made Tech shoot poor shots from the outside. The Yellow Jackets made just 3-of-their-first-20 shots from the floor.

ISU went nearly eight minutes without scoring and fell down 11-6 when Brigitte Ardossi scored on a putback for the Yellow Jackets. The Cyclones finally ended their drought on a drive from Bolte and then Lacey nailed a deep trey on their next possession to tie the game at 11-11 with 8:21 remaining in the first half.

Tech increased its lead to five points at 20-15, but ISU answered with back-to-back baskets from Anderson and a 3-pointer from Nisleit to knot the score at 20-20 with 2:27 left in the opening period. Tech then scored the last four points of the half to go up 24-20 at the break.

ISU finally heated up from outside in the early part of the second period. After going 2-for-11 from downtown in the first half, the Cyclones buried treys on their first three possessions to break open a 29-27 lead with 17:04 remaining. Bolte canned two from distance and Nisleit hit one to kickstart the Cyclone offense.

Bolte then drained two more bombs, as the Cyclones opened the second half on a 22-5 run to mount a 42-29 lead with 11:19 left in the game. The Yellow Jackets shrunk the Cyclone lead to eight points (47-39) on five-straight points from Jacqua Williams, but Ezell knocked down her first trifecta of the game to stop the momentum and make it a 50-39 ISU advantage with 7:30 remaining in the contest.

The Yellow Jackets continued to counter, however. A quick 11-2 flurry from Tech trimmed the Cyclone lead to 52-50 with just under four minutes remaining. Jill Ingram knocked down three treys in the run. The lead was just one point (54-53) with under a minute left in the game until Lacey made a spinning shot in the paint with the shot clock dwindling down to put ISU back up 56-53 with :47 ticks on the clock.

Tech quickly answered, as Ingram drove the lane for a lay-in with 0:37 seconds remaining to make it a one-point game again (56-55). Lacey was then fouled with 0:12 seconds left, making both free-throws to push ISU out in front 58-55. Tech had two chances to tie the game in the closing seconds, but both shots misfired.

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Team Stats

Kelsey Bolte

Jocelyn Anderson

Amanda Nisleit

Alison Lacey

Players Mentioned

Jocelyn Anderson

Jocelyn Anderson

Kelsey Bolte

Kelsey Bolte

Heather Ezell

Heather Ezell

Heather Ezell

Alison Lacey

Alison Lacey

Alison Lacey

Amanda Nisleit

Amanda Nisleit

Amanda Nisleit

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics