Iowa State Faces No. 6 MSU, New Orleans In Weekend Showdown

AMES, Iowa - The Iowa State women's basketball team (5-0, 0-0 Big 12) hosts a pair of contests this weekend beginning with sixth-ranked Mississippi State (7-0, 0-0 SEC) on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 1:30 p.m The game will air on FSN as Iowa State participates in the SEC-Big 12 Challenge. The Cyclones will then turn around to take on New Orleans (2-3, 0-0 Southland) on Sunday, Dec. 4 at 2 p.m.

Iowa State's game against Mississippi State serves has the highest ranked non-conference game in Hilton Coliseum since 1990 when the ISU men's basketball team faced No. 6 Indiana. Saturday's game will also serve as a Gold Rules game and fans are encouraged to wear Gold to support the Cyclones.

Who: Iowa State vs. No. 6 Mississippi State
Where: Hilton Coliseum - Ames, Iowa
When: Saturday, Dec. 3 at 1:30 p.m.
Projected Starting Lineup: Seanna Johnson, Jadda Buckley, Meredith Burkhall, Bridget Carleton and TeeTee Starks
Radio: Cyclone Radio Network/Learfield
Talent: Rich Fellingham (PxP); Molly Parrott (color)
TV: FSN
Talent: Ron Thulin (PxP); Brenda VanLengen (color)

Cyclone Quick Hits

The Iowa State women's basketball team (5-0, 0-0 Big 12) is set for back-to-back games against No. 6 Mississippi State on Saturday, Dec. 3 and New Orleans on Sunday, Dec. 4. ISU's game against sixth-ranked Mississippi State is a part of the SEC-Big 12 Challenge and also marks the highest-ranked non-conference opponent to enter Hilton Coliseum since ISU took on No. 5 Iowa in 1989. It is also the highest ranked non-conference basketball game - men or women- to take place since 1990 when the ISU men's team took on No. 6 Indiana.
ISU looks to defeat a top-10 team for the first time since downing No. 3 Baylor on Feb. 28, 2015 in Hilton Coliseum. In the same season, the Cyclones also handed then-No. 3 Texas its first loss of the season with a 59-57 win over the Longhorns.
Seanna Johnson was named to the Preseason All-Big 12 team for the first time in her career and currently ranks 18th in school history in points (1,237), sixth in rebounds (845) and fifth in double-doubles (28). She needs just 12 points to pass Nicky Wieben for 17th in school history. Her 845 rebounds rank seventh in the nation among active career leaders.
Jadda Buckley is just four assists away from tying Megan Taylor for 10th all time in school history in career assists. She currently has 333 in her career and is the top returning point guard in the Big 12. Her 333 career assists rank 36th nationally and third among juniors. Buckley's 6.4 assists per game, also rank second in the Big 12 and 23rd in the nation.
Iowa State ranks sixth in the nation in turnovers per game, averaging just 11.0 per contest. The Cyclones also rank in the top-50 nationally in turnover margin (5.0).
The Cyclones rank fourth in the nation in free throw percentage (82.7%). ISU led the nation in 2012-13 and 2013-14 at the charity stripe. Buckley is a perfect 21-of-21 from the line on the year and is just one of 12 in the nation who haven't missed a free throw. Her 87.3 career free-throw percentage also ranks second in the nation among active career leaders, just under Washington's Kelsey Plum's 88.0 percent. Johnson is shooting 84.7 percent (33-of-39) from the line and ranks 32nd nationally in free throw attempts.
The 2016-17 season marks the 22nd in the tenure of Bill Fennelly. Fennelly has led Iowa State to 16 NCAA Tournament appearances, which is tied with Oklahoma as the most of any Big 12 team since 1997. Fennelly boasts a 452-223 record at Iowa State and a 618-276 record in his 28-year career as a head coach. His 618 career wins lists him in the top-20 in the NCAA among active coaches.

Last Time Out

The Iowa State women's basketball team earned its fourth-straight win against the Savannah State Lady Tigers, 74-51. Iowa State was led by Seanna Johnson, who netted a game-high 16 points and eight rebounds. Bridget Carleton was the only other Cyclone in double figures with 11 points. Jadda Buckley led ISU in assists with seven.
Iowa State netted 11 triples on the evening, making 10 or more 3-pointers for the second-straight game.

Iowa State Team Quick Facts

Iowa State has 14 players on its roster from seven different states (Iowa, Texas, Minnesota, New York, Arizona, Wisconsin and Virginia) and five different countries (USA, Canada, Germany, Sweden and Montenegro).
Iowa State returns four starters from last season in Johnson, Carleton, Buckley and Burkhall. In all, Iowa State returns 83 percent of its scoring, 70 percent of its rebounding and 92.7 percent of its assists for the 2015-16 campaign.
Iowa State began the 2016-17 season with the Big 12's top returners in points, rebounds and assists as Johnson ranked second last season in both points (17.0) and rebounds (9.4), while Buckley averaged 6.0 assists. The Cyclones are the only Big 12 school returning three student-athletes who averaged over 10.0 points per game last season (Johnson-17.0, Carleton- 12.0, Buckley-11.4).
Iowa State is the only Big 12 school to have three student athletes returning who were named to the first-team, second-team, honorable mention or defensive team in 2015-16. (Johnson (first-team), Buckley and Carleton (honorable mention).

Streaks and Trends

Iowa State hit 200 3-pointers in a season for an NCAA record 13-straight years (2003-04-present). Iowa State has netted 30 3-pointers so far this season.
Seanna Johnson pulled in double-figure rebounds in 40 games in her career and 15 games last season. Johnson has also scored in double figures in 68 games in her career and all five games this season. She is riding a 14-game streak of scoring in double figures.
Johnson has started every game of her career, which puts her at 95-straight starts.
Johnson has had a double-doubles in 28 games in her career.
Jadda Buckley has dished five or more assists in 37 career games, including the last four.
Buckley has netted double figures in 45 career games, and five of the last six games of her career.
The Cyclones hit at least five threes in 139 of the last 160 games, including every game last season and have knocked down 10 or more triples in the last three games.
Iowa State has hit a 3-pointer in 678-consecutive games. In that time (since Feb. 18, 1995), ISU has hit 5,273 threes. That is equal to 7.78 three-pointers per game for the last 21 years.
The Cyclones have finished in the upper half of the Big 12 in seven of the last eight seasons.
The Cyclones have made nine of the last 10 NCAA Tournaments, one of just 15 teams nationally to do so.
Iowa State has won 96-straight regular season non-conference games at Hilton Coliseum. The streak dates back to the 2003-04 season (Last loss: Washington (12/21/03)).

Scouting The Bulldogs

Mississippi State returned all five starters from the 2015-16 squad that reached the Sweet 16.
Mississippi State's top performer is Victoria Vivians who was named a Preseason First-Team All-American by Sporting News. She is averaging 14.4 points and 2.4 rebounds.
The Bulldogs were tabbed to finish second in the SEC for 2016-17 season.
MSU claimed the championship of the Rainbow Wahine Classic last weekend defeating Oregon, San Jose State and Hawai'i.
Mississippi State is outscoring its opponents by a margin of 27.4 points this season, with its closest game an 11-point win against then- No. 8 Texas (79-68).
The Bulldogs all-time record is 475-323 in non-conference games.

Iowa State Faces No. 6 MSU, New Orleans In Weekend Showdown

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Iowa State Faces No. 6 MSU, New Orleans In Weekend Showdown

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Players Mentioned

Jadda Buckley

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Seanna Johnson

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