Seniors Lead Cyclones to 59-49 Win Over KU

AMES, Iowa ? The Iowa State senior class started the game on the floor together for the only time in their careers, and together they led the 22nd-ranked Cyclones to a 59-49 win over Kansas Saturday night in their finale in Hilton Coliseum. Nicky Wieben scored 20 points and Heather Ezell added 14 as ISU posted its 23rd win this season, tying the Cyclone record for regular-season wins.

The Cyclones had the help of 12,689 loyal fans, the 15th best crowd in school history. With her 14 points tonight, Ezell moved into Iowa State's career scoring top 10 with 1,290 career points. Wieben's 20 points moved her into 13th place on ISU's career scoring list. She also led the Cyclones with nine rebounds. Kansas was led by Danielle McCray's 27 points and 11 rebounds.

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Iowa State is 23-7 this season and finished 11-5 in the Big 12 to rank third in the final league standings. It is the Cyclones' best Big 12 finish since the 2005 season. ISU has finished in the top four of the league standings in three of the last five seasons. Iowa State also finished 15-1 at Hilton Coliseum this season.

The Cyclones shot 39.2 percent (20-51) from the floor and 25 percent (4-16) from three-point range. Kansas shot 37.5 percent from the field and 26.7 percent from beyond the arc. The two teams tied on the boards with 31 rebounds each. The Cyclones forced the Jayhawks into 17 turnovers and snapped a four-game winning streak by KU.

“Give the seniors credit," coach Fennelly said. "We were concerned about how we were going to start because we started four post players and one guard and we don't have that in our playbook. They played great. We were up eight to nothing, Nisleit hits a couple of shots and we run a play for Jocelyn (Anderson) and they executed it perfect. It was a great way to start it and it was nice to get them in together at the end. It probably could not have gone any better for our team and especially for our five seniors."

Iowa State jumped out to a 12-2 lead, as the five seniors earned the starting nod and played well together over the first four minutes. Amanda Nisleit drained a pair of three-pointers around a layup by Jocelyn Anderson to put the Cyclones up 8-0. The ISU defense held Kansas to 1-for-9 shooting over the first seven minutes.

Ezell got a steal under the basket and put in the layup, Anderson knocked down two free throws and Ezell hit a trey to give the Cyclones a 15-4 cushion. Kansas cut the lead to nine (19-10) before Iowa State went on a 6-0 run with a pair of baskets by Wieben. The Jayhawks trimmed the lead back t0 10 twice more before Wieben scored the final field goal of the half to give the Cyclones a 32-20 halftime advantage.

Wieben scored three quick points coming out of the locker room to push ISU's lead to 15, before KU went on a 10-4 run to trim the lead to nine (39-30). The Cyclones were cold coming out of the break, going 2-for-11 from the field over the first 10 minutes of the half. The Jayhawks got back-to-back field goals to cut into the lead further, 41-34.

Iowa State pushed the lead back to 11 with consecutive field goals from Wieben and Ezell (45-34). Then it became a free-throw shooting contest as seven of the next nine points were earned at the charity stripe, with ISU taking advantage to go ahead 51-37. Kansas never got closer than 10 the rest of the way.

“This was a great day for Iowa State basketball, to see what the men did this afternoon with their seniors and to see how they got started," Fennelly said. "I texted coach McDermott and said, ?I hope you left a little for us.' Our seniors did the same thing their seniors did. It was a big day in a lot of ways. It was a phenomenal way to finish the season at home, certainly to see those young people articulate their feelings about their fans and their families is truly special.”

The Cyclones will travel to play in the Big 12 Championship on Friday, after a first-round bye on Thursday. Iowa State will hold the No. 3 seed and will face the winner of Texas and Missouri at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City, Okla.

2009 Senior Class Speeches

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Team Stats

Nicky Wieben

Heather Ezell

Alison Lacey

Amanda Nisleit

Players Mentioned

Jocelyn Anderson

Jocelyn Anderson

Heather Ezell

Heather Ezell

Amanda Nisleit

Amanda Nisleit

Nicky Wieben

Nicky Wieben

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