No. 13 Cyclones Play Host to CU on Senior Day

03.05.2010 | Women's Basketball

By: cyclones.com

AMES, Iowa - The 13th-ranked Iowa State women's basketball team will celebrate Senior Day at 2 p.m. Saturday at Hilton Coliseum against the Colorado Buffaloes. The Cyclones will be without their top senior, Alison Lacey, for the second straight game due to illness.

What: No. 13/13 Iowa State (22-6; 10-5) vs. Colorado (13-15; 3-12)
When: Saturday, March 6, 2010 ? 2 p.m.
Where: Ames, Iowa ? Hilton Coliseum (14,356)
Radio: Cyclone Radio Network/Learfield; Talent: Rich Fellingham (pxp); Molly Parrott (color)
TV: Mediacom; Talent: BJ Schaben (pxp); Lyndsey Medders (color)
Webcast: Clone Zone
Live Stats: cyclones.com
Internet Radio: Clone Zone

Cyclone Notebook
? With a win Saturday, Iowa State would lock itself into a second-place finish in the Big 12 and a No. 2 seed going into the Big 12 Championship. Regardless, the Cyclones have secured a top-four seed and a first-round bye. The Big 12 Championship begins Thursday at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, and the Cyclones will begin play Friday.
? ISU is continuing its success in the Big 12 Conference. The Cyclones have finished in the top four of the league's final standings in four of the last six campaigns, including this season. Iowa State holds the third best conference record in Big 12 history (138-85).
? Iowa State is in its 37th season of women's basketball and its 15th season under head coach Bill Fennelly. Iowa State is 566-500 in school history.
? The 2008-09 season was one of the best in school history for the Cyclones. They tied the school record with 27 wins and advanced to the Elite Eight for the second time.
? Head coach Bill Fennelly is 329-147 in his 15th season with the Cyclones. He is 495-200 in his head coaching career, which began at Toledo in 1988.

A Closer Look At Colorado
? Since Colorado's loss to Iowa State in the third game of the Big 12 slate, the Buffaloes have gone 2-10, with wins coming on the road at Kansas State and at Missouri in an overtime affair. CU is 13-15 overall and 3-12 in the Big 12 standings. The Buffs are a lock for the 11th seed in the Big 12 Championship next week.
? Colorado is averaging 68 points per game and has hit the 70-point mark in four of its last five contests. The Buffaloes are shooting 41.6 percent from the field and 35.1 percent from outside the arc. The Buffs are posting 7.7 treys per contest, led by senior Bianca Smith's 2.9 average.
? Three CU players are averaging nine points or better this season. Junior Brittany Spears is fourth in the Big 12 with 17.8 points per game. She is shooting 42.7 percent from the floor and has 52 three-pointers. She is also hitting 83.7 percent from the charity stripe, where she has been 123 times this season. She is also the Big 12's fifth leading rebounder, grabbing 8.2 boards a game. CU senior Bianca Smith is posting 13.6 points per game and Chucky Jeffrey ranks third among Big 12 freshmen, scoring 9.6 points a contest.
? Colorado is averaging 35.1 rebounds a contest. In the first meeting with Iowa State, the Cyclones outrebounded the Buffs by 17, 43-26.
? In CU's last game, the Buffs lost a 72-70 decision at home to Kansas State. Three players finished in double figures for the Buffaloes, led by Brittany Spears' 19 points. She was 6-for-15 from the field and 1-for-8 from beyond the arc, but was 6-for-6 from the charity stripe. Alyssa Fressle scored 17 and Bianca Smith added 14 points for CU. The Buffaloes shot 44.2 percent from the field. Kansas State had five players in double figures, led by Brittany Chambers' 13 points and 14 rebounds.
? CU head coach Kathy McConnell-Miller holds a 65-86 record in her four seasons at Colorado and is 156-174 overall in 10 seasons as an NCAA Division I head coach. Before arriving at CU, McConnell-Miller spent six seasons as head coach at the University of Tulsa.

The Series
? Iowa State has won 12 of the last 13 meetings with Colorado, but the Cyclones still trail the all-time series, 36-28. ISU holds a 13-12 advantage when the series has been played in Ames. Iowa State holds a 21-10 record against CU since the formation of the Big 12 Conference.
? In the first meeting this season, Iowa State met Colorado in a desperation game after opening the Big 12 season with two straight losses. The Cyclones met the challenge, earning a 68-62 win in Boulder. Alison Lacey scored 32 points, including a run of 18 straight points, for the Cyclones to carry them to the victory. Iowa State shot 51.7 percent in the second half and finished hitting 41.1 percent from the floor for the contest. The Cyclones hit 8-of-19 three-point attempts.
? The two teams met in Ames late last February, with Iowa State taking a 76-63 win. The Cyclones have not lost to Colorado in Ames since the 2003-04 season.

Last Time Out
? Iowa State played without senior leader Alison Lacey for the second time this season, but the Cyclones were in the game late at Oklahoma State before falling 78-70 to the Cowgirls.
? Kelsey Bolte carried the scoring load for Iowa State with six three-pointers and 20 points. Chelsea Poppens carried the Cyclone rebounding effort with a career-high 17 boards to go with her 11 points. Anna Prins turned in 12 points and Whitney Williams hit a trio of treys for 11 points to go with a career-high seven assists.
? Unfortunately, from a numbers standpoint, the loss marked several round numbers for Iowa State. It was the 500th loss in Iowa State women's basketball history and it was the 200th loss of Bill Fennelly's head coaching career.
? The Cyclones hit 13 three-pointers against the Cowgirls, marking their best long range shooting performance since hitting 16 against Baylor on Feb. 13. Iowa State has hit 10 or more treys in 10 contests this season.
? The two teams were tied on the glass with a 37-37 deadlock.

Senior Day
Five Iowa State seniors as well as senior student-assistant coach Brittany Lange will be honored at the conclusion of the Colorado game in their final regular-season contest at Hilton Coliseum. Alison Lacey, Denae Stuckey, Genesis Lightbourne, Shellie Mosman and Anna Florzak will each be recognized for their career accomplishments as a Cyclone. The 2009-10 ISU senior class will be one of only four classes in school history to go to four consecutive NCAA Tournaments. These seniors rank as the third winningest class in school history by victories (96) and the fourth winningest by percentage (.722). They have made the Big 12 Championship semifinals and at least the second round of the NCAA Tournament in every season of their career. They have made one Big 12 Championship title game (in 2007) and one NCAA Elite Eight berth (in 2009).

The Votes Are In
With a pair of wins last week, Iowa State moved up two spots to rank 13th in this week's Associated Press Poll. ISU was 13th in the poll two weeks ago as well, for its highest ranking in the AP Top 25 since coming in 10th in the final poll of the 2001-02 campaign. Seven Big 12 squads are ranked in the AP Top 25, led by Nebraska's No. 3 ranking, and five league teams are ranked in the Top 15. The Cyclones remained No. 13 in this week's ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll. ISU's No. 12 ranking two weeks ago was its highest mark in the regular-season coaches' poll since ranking 10th in the final week of the 2001-02 season.

Take Me to Your Leader
Iowa State senior point guard Alison Lacey will miss her third game of the season on Saturday against Colorado. She missed the game at No. 3 Nebraska due to a concussion. She missed the entire trip to Stillwater and the game Wednesday night at Oklahoma State due to an illness. She will continue to recover and sit out the game against CU.

1,500-500-500 Club
In the win over Missouri, senior Alison Lacey became the only player in Iowa State history and only the seventh player in the history of the Big 12 Conference schools to reach 1,500 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists in her career. Lacey currently holds 1,592 points, 568 rebounds and 511 assists. She ranks sixth in ISU career scoring, third in career assists, and is 20 boards shy of ranking in ISU's top 10 for career rebounding.