Cyclones to Face Penn and College of Charleston Next

11.24.2009 | Women's Basketball

By: cyclones.com

AMES, Iowa - The Iowa State women's basketball team will try to bounce back from its first setback of the season this weekend when it faces the University of Penn and the College of Charleston in Evanston, Ill. The Cyclones will compete in Northwestern's Doubletree White Invitational, with their game against Penn on Friday tipping at 3 p.m. and the game vs. College of Charleston on Saturday at 2 p.m.

What: Doubletree White Invitational
When: Friday-Saturday, Nov. 27-28, 2009 ? 3/2 p.m.
Where: Evanston, Ill. ? Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117)
Radio: Cyclone Radio Network/Learfield; Talent: Rich Fellingham (pxp); Molly Parrott (color)
TV: None
Webcast: None
Live Stats: cyclones.com
Online Radio: Clone Zone
Full notes: Click in the links tab in the photo above

? Following its Thanksgiving tournament, the Cyclones will return to Hilton Coliseum where they will play nine of their next 10 games. ISU will play host to Mississippi Valley State Dec. 1 at 7 p.m.
? Iowa State is in its 37th season of women's basketball and its 15th season under head coach Bill Fennelly. Iowa State is 545-495 in school history.
? The Cyclones have won 41 straight regular-season non-conference contests at Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones have not lost a regular-season non-conference game at home since the 2003-04 season (Washington).
? The 2008-09 season was one of the best in school history for the Cyclones. They tied a school record with 27 wins and advanced to the Elite Eight for the second time in school history. See page three for more background on last season.
? Head coach Bill Fennelly is 308-142 in his 15th season with the Cyclones. He is 474-195 in his head coaching career, which began at Toledo in 1988.

A Closer Look At Penn
? Penn has opened the season with three consecutive losses. Most recently, Penn fell at home to Duquesne, 65-58, last Saturday.
? Penn finished fourth in the Ivy League last season, going 6-8 in league play and 9-19 overall. They won six of their last 10 games of the season.
? The Quakers return three starters from a season ago. Jerin Smith is Penn's leading scorer with 10.7 points per game and is shooting 40.5 percent from the field.
? Penn has shot just 34.5 percent from the field this season and is 6-of-31 from downtown. As a team, Penn is averaging 11 assists and 20.7 turnovers per game.
? Head coach Mike McLaughlin is in his first season at the helm of the Penn program. Before Penn, McLaughlin coached at Division II Holy Family University, where in 14 seasons he racked up an impressive record of 407-61, for a winning percentage of .870, which is the highest at any level of NCAA Basketball (men or women).

A Closer Look At College of Charleston
? College of Charleston is off to a great start this season, collecting a 3-1 record with wins over Clemson (68-55), Mercer (97-71) and UTSA (62-45). Charleston's lone loss this season came at North Carolina.
? Charleston has a veteran team, with four seniors and a junior in the starting lineup. They finished 23-8 overall last season and 14-6 in the SoCon, where they were third in the final conference standings.
? The Cougars were picked to finish third in the Southern Conference this season.
? Charleston has three players averaging double figures this season. Tonia Gerty leads the way with 14.8 points per game, while Jade Hughes is not far behind with 13.8 ppg. As a team, the Cougars are shooting 44.2 percent from the field and 36 percent from beyond the arc.
? Head coach Nancy Wilson is in her 15th season at College of Charleston. Last season, she won her 500th game, becoming the 24th active Division I coach to reach the mark. She holds a career record of 507-311. She also spent 13 seasons as the head coach at South Carolina.

Last Time Out
? Iowa State fell, 78-75, at instate rival Drake on Sunday afternoon. The Cyclones allowed the Bulldogs to score 48 second-half points. DU shot 58.6 percent from the floor and went 10-for-12 from the charity stripe over the final 20 minutes.
? ISU senior Alison Lacey posted her second career point-assist double-double with 12 points and 10 assists.
? Sophomore Whitney Williams scored a career-high 11 points for the Cyclones, including knocking down three treys.
? Junior Kelsey Bolte led the Cyclones in scoring with 18 points. She hit four triples in the effort. Freshman Jessica Schroll led ISU on the glass with seven rebounds.
? The Cyclones shot 53.3 percent from the field in the second half and 46.4 percent for the contest. Iowa State went 10-for-24 from long range.

Player of the Week
Anna Prins was named the Phillips 66 Big 12 Women's Basketball Freshman of the Week by a media voting panel for season-opening games of Nov. 13-15. Prins scored 20 points in ISU's win over Florida Atlantic. The 6-7 center went 7-of-10 from the field, including hitting three of her five attempts from behind the three-point line. She also connected on 3-of-4 from the free-throw line. Prins led all Big 12 freshmen in scoring in the opening weekend of regular-season action. She is the first Cyclone newcomer to win the award since Kelsey Bolte earned Freshman of the Week accolades three times during the 2008 season. Prins is the first Iowa State newcomer to ever win the award in the first week of the season.

2008-09 Season Rewind
? The Iowa State women's basketball team produced one of the greatest seasons in school history in 2008-09, winning a school-record tying 27 games and advancing to the NCAA Elite Eight for the second time in school history. The Cyclones finished tied for third in the Big 12 regular-season standings and advanced to the semifinals of the Big 12 Championship for the third consecutive season.
? Iowa State finished the season at 27-9 overall and 11-5 in the Big 12. The Cyclones have reached 20 wins for three straight seasons and 10 times in school history, including nine under head coach Bill Fennelly. The Cyclones' 23 regular-season wins tied the ISU record (also done in 1997-98).
? The Cyclones finished the season ranked 17th in the final Associated Press Poll (which is put out before the NCAA Championship begins) and were ranked 11th in the final ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll. ISU's No. 11 ranking in the coaches' top 25 was its highest postseason ranking since the 2000-01 campaign when it finished seventh.

Preseason Accolades
Senior point guard Alison Lacey has earned Preseason All-Big 12 accolades for the second consecutive year. She was chosen as an honorable-mention pick by league coaches. Lacey ranked sixth among Big 12 returners in career scoring and ninth in career rebounding, entering the 2009-10 season.

1,000-Point Club Members
Alison Lacey joined the Iowa State 1,000-point club last season in the home win over Nebraska. She was the 21st player in school history to reach that mark and currently ranks 15th in ISU career scoring with 1,170 points. Junior Kelsey Bolte is also on pace to reach 1,000 career points this season, currently sitting at 714. Seven times in school history ISU has had two or more 1,000-point club members on the same squad.

Faces In the Crowd
The 2009-10 Cyclone roster is full of new faces with four freshmen and one junior college transfer. After graduating three starters from last season's squad, this season's team looks vastly different. Alison Lacey and Kelsey Bolte are the Cyclones' only returning starters and ISU returns just 28 points and 13 rebounds per contest from a season ago. With the exception of senior Genesis Lightbourne, ISU's inside players are all brand new. Anna Prins, Amanda Zimmerman and Chelsea Poppens will try to fill the void left by Amanda Nisleit, Nicky Wieben, Jocelyn Anderson, Toccara Ross and Ashley Arlen. Fellow freshman Jessica Schroll and junior college transfer Chassidy Cole will help build depth in the Cyclone back court.

Above It All
Cyclone freshman Anna Prins, at 6 feet 7 inches tall, is the tallest player in Iowa State women's basketball history. The previous tallest player was Kate Bauman, a freshman on the 2000-01 squad. Bauman only played one season for the Cyclones.

Enjoying a New Home
In September, both the ISU women's and men's basketball teams moved into the brand new Sukup Basketball Complex. The 37,000-square-foot, $8 million facility offers all of the amenities a program needs. Both basketball programs have 24-hour access to their own regulation size court and each team has its own team/lounge area and locker room. Both programs share a training center with taping stations, self-contained whirlpools and treatment tables to fully accommodate any rehabilitation or treatment demands. The training center also includes a fully equipped weight room and access to a treadmill and elliptical machine. The second floor houses the coaches' offices as well as a balcony video deck overlooking each court, video editing rooms, and a theater room for watching film.

Hilton Magic
Iowa State finished the 2008-09 season ranked third in NCAA attendance with an average of 9,754 fans per game. It was he highest attendance ranking in school history for the Cyclones and marked the 11th consecutive season of ranking 11th or higher in home attendance.

Welcome Back
The NCAA Women's Basketball First and Second Rounds will return to Ames and Hilton Coliseum March 21 and 23, 2010. Iowa State will play host to the NCAA women's basketball first- and second-round games for the seventh time since 1998, in addition to serving as host to the 2002 Midwest Regional. In 2008, the Cyclones played host to NCAA first- and second-round games in Des Moines at Wells Fargo Arena. Since the NCAA has returned to a format of 16 four-team sites, Iowa State was able to play host at Hilton Coliseum.

Trey Bien
Iowa State has made at least one three-pointer in 452 consecutive games dating back to 1995. That streak ranks second in the nation. Canisius College unofficially holds the longest current streak at 457 consecutive games.

What are you doing?
Follow Cyclone women's basketball updates on Twitter. The overall ISU women's basketball account can be found @CycloneWBB. ISU head coach Bill Fennelly is also on Twitter and he can be found @ISUCoachFen.

A Sign of the New York Times
ISU senior Alison Lacey will continue to write a blog this season for the New York Times. It can be found periodically at: http://thequad.blogs.nytimes.com.

The Weekly Word
ISU sophomore Whitney Williams will post a weekly video blog throughout the Cyclones' 2009-10 season. They will be posted on Fridays and will cover a variety of topics. To get the inside scoop on ISU women's basketball, Cyclone fans should check out the Weekly Word at cyclones.com.

The Magic Number
Iowa State is 74-14 (.841) all-time in Big 12 conference regular-season play when holding opponents under 60 points. ISU is 53-50 (.515) when a Big 12 opponent scores 60-79 points and 1-16 (.059) when the opponent scores 80 or more points. The Cyclones have lost 15 consecutive contests when allowing a league foe to reach the 80-point mark.

Home Sweet Hilton Magic
The Cyclones have been phenomenal at home during head coach Bill Fennelly's tenure, compiling a 182-33 record (.847) in Hilton Coliseum, including a 86-3 (.967) mark against regular-season non-conference opponents. Iowa State has gone undefeated at home three times, most recently during the 2004-05 season.

Joining the Team
The Cyclones have signed three players to National Letters of Intent for the 2010-11 season. Hallie Chistofferson, a senior from Exira, is an instate addition to the Cyclone roster, while Kelsey Harris is a guard from California and Lauren Mansfield is a sophomore at Midland (Texas) College but is originally from Adelaide, Australia. Going into her senior campaign, Christofferson, a 6-3 forward, had accumulated 1,542 career points for an average of 21.4 points per game and pulled down 911 career rebounds for an average of 12.7 rpg. Mansfield, a 5-7 guard, is a true point guard with outstanding three-point shooting ability. In her first season at Midland College, she shot a stellar 48 percent from beyond the arc while leading the Lady Chaps to a 30-2 overall record. Harris, a 5-10 guard, is also an outstanding three-point shooter. As a junior, she led Brea to the California state championship game, where she hit five three-pointers and scored 25 points.

Coaching Consistency
Iowa State has returned the same coaching staff for the last seven seasons. Associate head coach Jack Easley is the newest to the staff and is in his seventh 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 eight seasons.