Games coming up this weekend:

Sat., Mar. 1:
Baylor at Texas A&M - FSN 1:00 p.m. (A&M is battling for a first round B-12 tournament bye [top 4 teams], Baylor is battling for the top seed)
Kansas at Iowa State (ISU NEEDS this win to remain in consideration for the NCAA tournament, KU is trying to play spoiler)
Missouri at Kansas State (KSU must win to keep pace with Baylor for the conference lead, MU can finish NOT in last place if they win out with some help)
Texas Tech at Oklahoma State (OSU is also battling for a first round bye as well while Tech is trying to salvage a disappointing season)

Sun., Mar. 2:
Texas at Oklahoma - FSN 12:30 p.m. (OU is competing for the top four and first round bye, UT is hanging on to hope they might get an at-large NCAA bid)
Colorado at Nebraska (NU faces a must-win game to remain above .500 in conference, CU is looking at WNIT in almost every situation)

Iowa State did what it needed to do to close out the home schedule for the season - beat Kansas, 51-42. Alison Lacey led the Cyclones with 19 points, 13 of which came in the second half. ISU won't gain any style points for the performance - the first half was especially ugly. Coach Fennelly said in the post-game interview that scoring 20 points by halftime and being in the lead isn't going to happen a lot. Jocelyn Anderson set an Iowa State all-time single season shot blocking record with her 62nd and 63rd blocks of the year. ISU improved to 7-8 in the Big 12, 18-10 overall, while KU dropped to 4-11 and 15-13.

There were two upsets over the weekend. Oklahoma got a surprising home court loss at the hands of Texas, losing 65-50. The difference seemed to be the fouls - OU was 5-6 from the line while the 'Horns were 18-23.

Baylor got blown out at College Station, losing to A&M 72-53. The Bears were down 19 at the half and could make up no ground in the final twenty minutes. Angela Tisdale was the only player for BU who scored more than 7 points - she had 25. A&M forced 20 Baylor turnovers and converted them into 24 points.

Scores from the weekend:

Iowa State 51, Kansas 42
Texas A&M 72, Baylor 53
Kansas State 81, Missouri 52
Oklahoma State 73, Texas Tech 54
Texas 65, Oklahoma 50
Nebraska 63, Colorado 55

Current league standings with one game remaining for each team:

Baylor------------------- 12-3, 24-4
Kansas State---------- 12-3, 20-8
Oklahoma-------------- 11-4, 21-6
Oklahoma State------- 10-5, 22-6
Texas A&M------------- 10-5, 22-7
Nebraska--------------- 8-7, 19-10
Iowa State-------------- 7-8, 18-10
Texas-------------------- 6-9, 18-11
Texas Tech------------- 4-11, 16-13
Colorado---------------- 4-11, 15-13
Kansas------------------ 4-11, 15-13
Missouri----------------- 2-13, 9-19

Final regular season games for all Big 12 teams:

Wed., Mar. 5:
Kansas State at Kansas
Texas Tech at Texas, FSNSW 7:00 p.m. (tv times all CST)
Iowa State at Nebraska
Missouri at Colorado, FSNRM 8:00 p.m.

Thu., Mar. 6:
Oklahoma State at Baylor
Oklahoma at Texas A&M, FSN 7:30 p.m.


Big 12 Tournament begins Tuesday, March 11th in Kansas City with first round games. Quarterfinals are Wednesday, March 12th, the semifinals are Thursday evening, and the Finals are Saturday evening (Friday is a day off for the finalists).

I will post the tournament bracket after final seedings have been figured out Wednesday night.

Ok, duh - I can't post the bracket for the Big 12 tourney just yet. There are two more games tonight that I spaced off even as I was typing up the last post, so there are seeds still to be determined.

Iowa State's league tournament seed is sealed, tho. ISU lost at Nebraska 55-45 last night dropping them to 7-9 and tying for 7th place with Texas. UT holds the tie-breaker, so the Cyclones will be the 8 seed and face off against Colorado as the 9 seed Tuesday at noon in Kansas City.

Kansas State became the first team in Big 12 to go from last to first place in consecutive seasons. K-State can finish no worse than in a tie for first place with Baylor. If BU loses their game tonight, the Wildcats claim the title outright. K-State beat Kansas last night 61-50 in Lawrence.


Scores from last night:

Kansas State 61, Kansas 50
Texas 70, Texas Tech 55
Nebraska 55, Iowa State 45
Colorado 63, Missouri 47

Congratulations to Kansas State for winning the Big 12 title outright. Baylor could have made it a tie for first with a win against Oklahoma State, but lost to the Cowgirls (at home no less), 72-68. Baylor had four players in double figures, but could not overcome the 27 points scored by OSU's Andrea Riley (my personal pick for Big 12 Player of the Year honors).

Oklahoma dropped its second straight game at Texas A&M last night, 73-59 to fall to 5th place for the season. Courtney Paris scored 27 points, but no other Sooner scored more than 11. A&M moved into a three-way tie for 3rd, taking the 4 seed for the conference tournament.


Last night's scores:

Oklahoma State 72, Baylor 68
Texas A&M 73, Oklahoma 59

END OF THE REGULAR SEASON!!!


Final conference standings (in order of B12 tournament seeds):

Kansas State------------- 13-3, 21-8
Baylor--------------------- 12-4, 24-5
Oklahoma State---------- 11-5, 23-6
Texas A&M---------------- 11-5, 23-7
Oklahoma----------------- 11-5, 21-7
Nebraska------------------ 9-7, 20-10
Texas---------------------- 7-9, 19-11
Iowa State---------------- 7-9, 18-11
Colorado------------------ 5-11, 16-13
Texas Tech--------------- 4-12, 16-14
Kansas-------------------- 4-12, 15-14
Missouri------------------- 2-14, 9-20


Conference tournament match-ups with seeding and tip-off times:

Tuesday, March 11:
Game 1: No. 8 Iowa State vs. No. 9 Colorado Noon (all times CST)
Game 2: No. 5 Oklahoma vs. No. 12 Missouri 2:30 p.m.
Game 3: No. 7 Texas vs. No. 10 Texas Tech 6 p.m.
Game 4: No. 6 Nebraska vs. No. 11 Kansas 8:30 p.m.

Wednesday, March 12:
Game 5: No. 1 Kansas State vs. Iowa State or Colorado Noon (FSN)
Game 6: No. 4 Texas A&M vs. Oklahoma or Missouri 2:30 p.m. (FSN)
Game 7: No. 2 Baylor vs. Texas or Texas Tech 6 p.m. (FSN)
Game 8: No. 3 Oklahoma State vs. Nebraska or Kansas 8:30 p.m. (FSN)

Thursday, March 13:
Game 9: Winners of games 5 and 6, 6 p.m. (FSN)
Game 10: Winners of games 7 and 8, 8:30 p.m. (FSN)

Saturday, March 15:
Game 11 (Championship Game): Winners of games 9 and 10, 6 p.m. (FSN)


There should be some very good games in this tournament, so check them out if you have the time on Fox Sports nation-wide. Honestly, any of the top five teams has a legitimate chance at winning the automatic NCAA bid. NU, UT, and ISU are long shots at this point and the bottom four most likely will not get past the quarterfinals if they win on the first day.

The All Big 12 Awards were announced at the end of the week.

2007-08 Phillips 66 All-Big 12 Awards:
Coach of the Year: Deb Patterson, Kansas State
Player of the Year: Courtney Paris, Oklahoma
Newcomer of the Year: Dominic Seals, Texas Tech
Freshman of the Year: Danielle Robinson, Oklahoma
Defensive Player of the Year: Courtney Paris, Oklahoma
Sixth Man Award: Morenike Atunrase, Texas A&M

All-Big 12 First Team (alphabetical by school)
(Player School Pos Ht Cl Hometown)
Rachel Allison Baylor F/P 6-1 Jr Jonesboro, Ark.
Angela Tisdale Baylor G 5-7 Sr Austin, Texas
Jackie McFarland Colorado F 6-3 Sr Derby, Kan.
Kimberly Dietz Kansas State G 5-9 Sr Boulder, Colo.
Shalee Lehning Kansas State G 5-9 Jr Sublette, Kan.
Kelsey Griffin Nebraska F 6-2 Jr Eagle River, Alaska
Courtney Paris Oklahoma C 6-4 Jr Piedmont, Calif.
Andrea Riley Oklahoma State G 5-5 So Dallas, Texas
Danielle Gant Texas A&M G/F 5-11 Jr Oklahoma City, Okla.
Takia Starks Texas A&M G 5-8 Jr Houston, Texas

All-Big 12 Second Team (alphabetical by school)
Alison Lacey Iowa State G 6-0 So Canberra, Australia
Marlies Gipson Kansas State F 6-0 Jr McPherson, Kan.
Brittainey Raven Texas G 6-0 So Fort Worth, Texas
A'Quonesia Franklin Texas A&M G 5-3 Sr Tyler, Texas
Dominic Seals Texas Tech F 6-2 Jr Dallas, Texas

All-Big 12 Honorable Mention (alphabetical by school)
Jessica Morrow and Jhasmin Player (Baylor), Brittany Spears (Colorado), Danielle McCray (Kansas), Alyssa Hollins (Missouri), Danielle Page (Nebraska), Ashley Paris and Danielle Robinson (Oklahoma), Danielle Green, Maria Cordero and Taylor Hardeman (Oklahoma State), Carla Cortijo and Ashley Lindsey (Texas)

Big 12 All-Rookie Team (alphabetical by school)
Player School Pos Ht Cl Hometown
Brittany Spears Colorado F 6-1 Fr Pasadena, Calif.
Kelsey Bolte Iowa State G 6-1 Fr Ida Grove, Iowa
Krysten Boogaard Kansas F 6-5 Fr Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
Danielle Robinson Oklahoma G 5-9 Fr San Jose, Calif.
Dominic Seals Texas Tech F 6-2 Jr Dallas, Texas

Iowa State may have sewn up an NCAA invitation by blowing out Colorado in the first game of the first round of the Big 12 tournament in Kansas City Tuesday. The Cyclones won 76-50, while hitting 14 3s, including a tournament single-game record of 7 3s by Heather Ezell. Ezell scored 25 points, while Kelsey Bolte added 19 and Alison Lacey 13. ISU also set a tournament record for fewest turnovers (5) in a game. Jackie McFarland put in 21 for CU in what could possibly be her last collegiate game - CU will have to wait and see if the WNIT invites them to play in the post-season. Iowa State will take on top seed Kansas State at noon Wednesday. The game will be televised nationally on Fox Sports Net.

For the REALLY big news: for the first time in Big 12 history, a 12 seed has won a first round game! Missouri beat 5th seeded Oklahoma, 70-64 in overtime. The Paris twins (for OU) combined for 42 points and 43 rebounds, but go little help from other Sooners as Mizzou used balanced scoring to stay with, then finally beat Oklahoma. MU's Alyssa Hollins led the Tigers with 19 points, while two others had 16 in the win. Missouri's head coach, Cindy Stein, used a unique strategy at the end of regulation with a tied score and OU with the ball. She had her fastest players defend OU's guards and forced the 6'4" and 6'3" Paris twins to bring the ball up the court, keeping it away from the ball handlers. This wasted 13 of the final 17 seconds on the clock, which allowed Mizzou to pick off a bad pass, but not enough time to score off the turnover. The Tigers were able to capitalize on poor OU shooting in the extra period and hit free throws to seal the victory. Oklahoma missed 59 shots on the game. Missouri will take on Texas A&M in the second early game Wednesday, also on Fox Sports (approximately at 2:30 CDT).

In the other game that didn't go as expected, 11th seeded Kansas knocked off sixth seed Nebraska, 72-67, bolstering KU's hopes of seeing post-season play in the WNIT. The box score had not been posted as I type this, so I don't have any details on this game other than "WOW - the two lowest seeds both won on the first day." Kansas will play 3 seed Oklahoma State at 6 pm Wednesday on Fox Sports.

7th seed Texas beat 10 seed Texas Tech, 75-63. The Lady Raiders made more 3 point shots than 2 point field goals (10 vs. 9), which didn't help matters any. Texas had four in double figures and shot nearly 50% for the game in the win. UT will take on second seed Baylor in the final game on Wednesday at approximately 8:30 pm on Fox Sports.

Thinking of you Matt as I see Iowa State pulled off the big upset of #1 seed Kansas State. Heather Ezell hit 8 3's in the upset.

I'm guessing this should clinch an NCAA berth?

Yuppers - Iowa State is about 99% assured of getting into the NCAAs and playing first and second round games in Des Moines.

And I thought the upset of OU by Missouri yesterday was going to be the BIG event of the Big 12 tourney! This game was absolutely incredible! Kansas State entered the tournament as the conference's #1 seed for the first time ever and received their first round bye. Iowa State won their first game as the 8 seed and advanced to play K-State, which ISU had lost to twice in the regular season - first by 31 in Manhattan, then by 3 in Ames.

Coach Fennelly always has a gameplan and today was no different. The goal was to keep KSU from running and wearing us down, which was accomplished. Now, when this happens, you also need to score - this happened also, fortunately. It became a game of runs by each team. ISU went up early, leading by as many a 7 in the first period, but K-State came back and led by one at the break. ISU came out of the half and got up again by 6. The Wildcats again went on a tear and led 43-35 with just over six minutes remaining in regulation. ISU clawed back and closed out the final twenty minutes with an 18-10 run to tie things up at 53. With time running down, Alison Lacey put up a 3 from the corner, which bounced off the weak side of the rim. Jocelyn Anderson was there for the put-back that tied the game with 0.4 seconds remaining.

Kansas State took control early in overtime, going up by 6 points with under 3 minutes to play, then by 5 with less than 30 seconds on the clock. Heather Ezell hit her 8th 3 pointer of the game (breaking her previous day's Big 12 tourney record-tying SEVEN 3s made) to cut ISU's deficit to 2 with 20 seconds remaining. She then had to foul to stop the clock and force free throws at the other end. This would be her fifth foul and she headed for the bench with 26 points. KSU's Kincaid hit both free throws to give them a 64-60 lead with 16 seconds to go. Lacey raced down the court and hit a 3 of her own (her 4th) to cut it to one point, 64-63, with only 11 seconds remaining. Again a foul on ISU sending Kincaid to the line. She makes the first misses the second, allowing ISU to rebound and dish off to Lacey. Lacey drove down the court with KSU point guard Shalee Lehning shadowing her all the way. Lehning realizes she does not have position on Lacey and fouls her under the basket as the shot goes up and in. 65-65 with 4.5 seconds left in overtime. Lacey steps to the line and hits the free throw (after it bounces off the front of the rim, then the glass, the drops in).

You'd think "it's probably over at this point." You'd be wrong. With 4.5 seconds, Shalee Lehning takes the ball and drives the length of the court in more than enough time shoots a floater from maybe ten feet out and the ball hits the rim, spins all the way around - not once, but TWICE - before falling off and dropping into the arms of Denae Stuckey as the horn sounded. Final - ISU 66, KSU 65 in OT. NOW, it's over!

The atmosphere was amazing the whole game. ISU had about 2000 people there, KSU about 1000, and everyone was on their feet cheering, yelling, clapping, shrieking at every basket and every rebound. Just when you thought it couldn't get louder, the overtime period came and every single possession sent some part of the spectators to their feet. All three news stations here had major coverage of the game on the news tonight and the reaction was the same from everyone - "WOW." Coach Fennelly called it one of the best games he'd ever been privileged to coach in.

There was one down side - KSU lost their leading scorer, Kimberly Dietz, to a knee injury about seven minutes into the game. She did not return. I heard while I was visiting after the game that it was another ACL tear (unofficial) - after the two that ISU suffered this year, along with a Baylor starter, definitely NOT what anyone in this league needed. Did that affect the outcome of the game? Possibly. However, we managed to beat the league champ - and I don't care how it happened. A win is a win and I'll take it. Btw, this was the first time in Big 12 history that the #1 seed had lost it's opening round tournament game (on the women's side).

In ANOTHER stunning development today, Baylor, the #2 seed went down to Texas tonight, 76-61 after trailing by 16 at halftime. It was a tale of two halves. First half, Baylor could not miss and Texas could not hit, leading to a 40-24 score at the break. In the second half, just the opposite happened, where UT rattled off 52 points to the Bears' 21.

Oklahoma State beat 11th seeded Kansas by 20, 82-62 to advance to the "final four" along with Texas A&M, which beat Missouri, 65-39 (this was a seven point game at the half).

So these are the remaining seeds in the tournament:

#3 Oklahoma State
#4 Texas A&M
#7 Texas
#8 Iowa State

ISU will play Texas A&M Thursday night at 6 pm on Fox Sports Net, while OSU will play Texas at 8:30. Stay tuned - it could actually get even more bizarre!

Edited to add: In just two tourney games, Heather Ezell is shooting 15-24 (62.5%) from long range for the tournament, breaking the single season tournament record of 14 threes made (over three games, no less) set back in 1998. She still hasn't reached the record for most threes attempted.

I will report back on the semi-finals on Friday (will be a long drive back -again- from KC, regardless of if we win or lose).

GO CYCLONES!!!!!!!

GO TWISTER SISTERS!!!!!!

I just checked out the highlights on WOI website, very cool. What an exciting game at Hilton South. :-)

Good article from today's Kansas City Star about the Iowa State/Kansas State game:

http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/528951.html

It was one of those rare games where you are literally speechless and tears well up in your eyes, you're so happy at the outcome. There have been a few of those, but this might be the best win since we knocked #1 seed UCONN out of the 1999 NCAA tournament in Cincinnati by hitting five 3s by four different players as time wound down. Absolutely amazing...


*Ok, after some thought this morning, I would have to say this was ONE of the best wins in the last ten years for the program. I started thinking about how knocking off #1 ranked Texas Tech a few years back in Hilton stacked up and it was pretty damned good (Anne O'Neil and "the shot" that put ISU up a point with 0.2 seconds remaining).

Iowa State lost their chance to play in a second straight Big 12 tournament final, losing to Texas A&M 65-53 Thursday night in Kansas City. The game got off to a rough start as A&M decided to use the most physical pressure defense I've personally ever seen. They literally bumped ISU up and down the court and didn't get hardly any fouls called (for that or any of the 27,451 illegal screens they set in the first half - ok, an exaggeration, but you get the point). Coach Fennelly got a technical foul less than three minutes into the game for chewing out a ref who mistakenly wandered too close to him. The officiating did not improve much, tho, until the second half when it seemed as tho an entirely new set of refs came out onto the floor. A&M had 9 fouls before ISU picked up its second, but it the damage had already been done.

A&M jumped out to a 17-4 lead just six minutes into the game. ISU trailed by as many as 17 in the first half, but cut the deficit to 12 at the break. The lead had been trimmed to five at 41-36 with 14:30 to play, but ISU then gave up a 10-0 run and the Cyclones could not get to within ten points again after that.

The Aggies did what they needed to do to win the game, but honestly - if this happened to be the first women's basketball game I'd ever really paid attention to, it wouldn't make me want to watch another. This game was sloppy and ugly because of the type of defense that bullies the other team up and down the court. What's frustrating is that there is NO consistency in officiating in this league and that allows certain teams to play in a way that rewards overly-physical play. A foul is a foul no matter who has the whistle, but you can't tell that to some of the officiating crews in this part of the country. When an opponent knocks one of our players to the floor to get at the ball and doesn't get anything called, but we get a whistle for what may or may not be a hand check, something is wrong. That's my rant for this post - it's been a problem for years, but nothing will be done about it because the zebras have virtually no accountability. Ok, I said I was done with that and I am.

The other semi-final was Texas vs. Oklahoma State. OSU led by 12 at the half, but UT came back and took a 55-54 lead with 13 minutes to play. The teams traded baskets until finally OSU was able to come away with a 75-72 win to get to the finals. The Cowgirls' Andrea Riley scored her season average 23 to lead all players. Carla Cortijo lead the 'Horns with 14 point.

Those games led to the match-up tonight for the Big 12 title and automatic bid to the NCAAs. A&M jumped out to a 9 point halftime lead at 33-24. OSU came back and made a game of it, taking a 54-53 lead with just three minutes remaining, but the Aggies held off another charge by OSU, claiming a 64-59 win and it's first Big 12 title. Texas A&M is just four years removed from a 4-12 conference season, while OSU only two seasons ago went 0-16 in the league. This was also the first year since 2003 that did not feature either Oklahoma or Baylor in the championship game.


All-Tournament Team:

Takia Starks, Texas A&M - Most Outstanding Player
A'Quonesia Franklin, Texas A&M
Danielle Green, Oklahoma State
Andrea Riley, Oklahoma State
Heather Ezell, Iowa State (can't tell you how proud I am of her to be named to this squad - she played her ass off all three games)


Charlie Creme of ESPN released a brand new bracket tonight that still had 8 Big 12 teams making it into the NCAAs - including Iowa State as a 7 seed (which I personally think is too high). He lists A&M as a 2 seed, Baylor as a 3, Oklahoma State as a 4, Oklahoma and Kansas State as 5s, Texas and Iowa State as 7s, and Nebraska as an 8. In 40 or so hours from now, we'll know if he's right or not. I think the 7s and the 8 could be a bit lower, but the rest seem pretty close.


**Edited to add this explanation from Charlie about ISU's seeding, specifically:**

Host schools create some issues that can't be avoided

"In particular, Iowa State, the host school in Des Moines, Iowa, creates some bracketing complexities. No matter how it can be sliced, Iowa State has to be somewhere between a No. 7 and a No. 10 seed. It would be hard to make a case for anything better. Ultimately, that means that because the Cyclones have to play in Des Moines, that in the second round, a No. 1 or No. 2 seed will be playing a de facto road game.

On the latest S-curve, Iowa State was 31, but was one of those switches discussed above. That made the Cyclones a No. 7 seed. So which No. 2 seed gets the road assignment? The answer: Rutgers, in the Oklahoma City Regional.

Without even taking into consideration that there might be other procedural conflicts, to preclude another move, here's the logic: Iowa State can't be in the same subregional as No. 2 Texas A&M because of conference affiliation. Maryland and LSU are already host schools, so the Cyclones can't be placed with either of them.

Even if Iowa State had stayed on the No. 8 seed line, issues existed. Stanford is already a subregional host, so the Cyclones couldn't go to the Spokane Regional. Tennessee was forced to play Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh in last year's tournament, and the committee has stated it tries to avoid that happening twice in any three-year period. North Carolina had to do the same in Nashville against Vanderbilt in 2006. So … that leaves Rutgers.

And yes, before you run to the computer to send an e-mail for the reminder that Rutgers played Michigan State in East Lansing, Mich., last season, remember that that occurred as a No. 4 seed. That isn't supposed to matter in the policy -- but given the circumstances laid out above, something had to give. If it plays out this way, that is the fairest solution."

The Big 12 got 8 teams in the NCAAs as projected. ESPN's Creme was pretty close to being dead-on with his picks for this league - only three teams were not what he predicted and those were only off by one spot. The Big 12 ended up with a #2 seed (Texas A&M), two 3 seeds (Baylor, Oklahoma State), a 4 seed (Oklahoma), a 5 seed (Kansas State), a 7 seed (Iowa State), and two 8 seeds (Texas, Nebraska).

A&M will open with Texas-San Antonio in Baton Rouge, with a potential second round match-up against either Syracuse (7) or Hartford (10). Baylor opens with Fresno State in Albuquerque and could face either Pittsburgh (6) or Wyoming (11) in the second round. OSU starts with East Tennessee in Des Moines, with the possibility of facing either Ohio State or Florida State in the next round. Oklahoma starts with Illinois State in West Lafayette and could move on to play either Notre Dame or SMU.

Kansas State opens with Chattanooga in Bridgeport and could see either Miami of Ohio or Louisville next. Iowa State begins with Georgia Tech in Des Moines and would face either Rutgers or Robert Morris in round two. Nebraska opens with Xavier in College Park and would most likely face Maryland (or Coppin State - yeah, right) in the second round. Texas gets Minnesota in Bridgeport and would face off with UConn if they advance (or snowball-in-hell's-chance Cornell).

Actually, I kind of like UT's chances to hang around with UConn long enough to make a game of it. Texas has been playing some of their best ball of the year over the last three weeks and Coach G will have them ready to go.

Florida State made it into the field without having beaten ANYone else who made it into the NCAA tournament and with an rpi of 59. I would say their chances of beating Oklahoma State if the Seminoles even get by Ohio State first are slim to none. Hubby will be there cheering for the garnet and gold regardless and I suppose I will too.

The selection show on ESPN left MUCH to be desired. They spent most of the first ten minutes fawning over UConn before they would even announce the rest of that region. It dragged out way too much - they should have been announcing the teams and analyzing it all in depth (supposedly) later. Plus they messed up on facts here and there as well, tho most were corrected from what I could see. 2006 National Champ Maryland's head coach was misidentified as Brenda Frasier (it's Frese). Plus the graphic on the bottom of the screen scrolled thru with some bad info on Iowa State. Apparently (according to them), ISU has not won an NCAA game in its last six NCAA appearances - forgetting, of course, the first round win last year against Washington, the first round win against Temple in 2002, the first round win against St. Francis in 2001, the first round win against Howard in 2000, and the first round win against Santa Clara in 1999. Hey, wait - that means there was only one first round loss in the last six appearances - Utah in 2005! We noticed that statement was "missing" from the same ticker on ESPNU during the next hour. At least someone caught it. I find ESPN sorely lacking in their balance of women's basketball coverage, but at least they cover it, so I shouldn't complain too much (but I will anyway).

Anyway, the stage is set for the Big Dance. Iowa State is officially "in" so Cyclone fans can start buying those tickets by the thousands (I hope). Between 3,000 and 4,000 all-session tickets have been sold already. Now that we know when ISU will play (Saturday at 11:00 a.m.), people can get single session seats. We always support our teams - Iowa State held for several years the all-time NCAA 1st and 2nd round attendance records, nearly selling out Hilton Coliseum entirely in 2000 (13,600 for the first round, 13,400 for the second round). I don't think Wells Fargo Arena will be configured to hold even that many, but it should have a good crowd for the game (s). Oklahoma State should bring a couple thousand fans up from Stillwater as well - there was a sea of orange in Kansas City last week for the Big 12 tournament.

More dirt as I think of/discover it...

The WNIT bracket was announced late last night also and three more Big 12 teams get to extend their seasons. Kansas, Texas Tech, and Colorado all will host at least one game in the WNIT. All three will await the winners of the 'play-in' games - the bracket isn't like it is on the men's side of things. Here's the link and you can check it out for yourselves...

http://www.womensnit.com/photos/bracket.pdf

Everyone in the league but Missouri got a post-season invitation. Missouri finished with only 10 wins on the season, but wasn't really THAT bad of a team. I think it was more a problem with coaching and motivation than with actual talent.

It was pointed out recently by Coach Fennelly that of ISU's 12 losses this season, 11 were to teams that made the NCAA tournament, and the 12th was to a team in the WNIT (Kansas, on the road).

Of the other Big 12 teams that made the NCAA tournament, only Baylor suffered NO losses to non-NCAA qualifiers. All six of their losses were to teams that made the tournament. Kansas State had the worst showing of the eight Big 12 teams that made it in, losing five of their nine games to teams that did not make the NCAAs. A breakdown:

Kansas State - 5 of 9 games lost were to teams not in the NCAAs
Baylor - none of the 6 losses were to teams not in the NCAAs
Texas A&M - 1 of 7 losses " " " "
Oklahoma State - 1 of 7 losses " " " "
Oklahoma - 1 of 8 losses " " " "
Nebraska - 3 of 11 losses " " " "
Texas - 2 of 12 losses " " " "
Iowa State - 1 of 11 losses " " " "

Big 12 NCAA tournament tv schedule for this weekend. ESPN (including ESPN2 and ESPNU) is covering the women's tournament once again, so these games will be available in varying degrees of totality around the country. As long as DirecTV shows ALL of the Iowa State game in the first round and not just the first half before showing the entire second half of Oklahoma/SE Missouri State here in Iowa.

Saturday games:

Texas A&M - noon (all times Eastern)
Iowa State - noon
Baylor - 2 pm
Oklahoma State - 8 pm

Sunday games:

Nebraska - noon (all times Eastern)
Oklahoma - noon
Kansas State - noon
Texas - 9 pm

Iowa State hosted a great first round game yesterday in Des Moines, beating 10 seed Georgia Tech, 58-55, in front of over 9,000 fans (40 of which were from Tech). ISU struggled against the full-court pressure that the Jackets applied, but managed to adapt by the second half. Tech led 24-20 at halftime, then ISU freshman Kelsey Bolte started lighting it up from long range. The first one goes in, and the place goes nuts. A second one by Amanda Nisleit goes in, it gets louder. The third one drops in from Bolte and the building was deafening. Watched the tape last night after we got home and it didn't do justice to the noise level inside.

ISU eventually outscored Tech 22-5 to open the second half, before Tech closed the gap to 54-53 with under a minute to play. Lacey scored for the Cyclones, which was answered by an immediate Tech score. With under 15 seconds to play Tech gets called for a foul on an attempted steal, something that hadn't been called in the previous 39 minutes, 45 second of the game (or seemingly, anyway). Lacey heads for the line and hits two freebies. ISU had two fouls to give, so they were able to waste some time off the clock while Tech tried to inbound the ball and make something happen. They got two 3 point shots off before time expired, but didn't hit either, leaving ISU to win. Freshman Kelsey Bolte led all ISU players with 19 points.

Iowa State's reward? Playing 2 seed Rutgers Monday night. That will be an even tougher challenge than Tech was, but we always have a chance. I have learned this season to NOT count out this team.

Des Moines hosted another Big 12 team in the other games for the evening session. Oklahoma State played East Tennessee State and won 85-73 in a VERY rough game where the officiating crew would not discourage the overly physical game. Literally, I'm surprised no one broke a bone in that one. ETSU played a good game, but OSU simply had too much firepower. Big 12 leading scorer Andrea Riley had 26 to pace all scorers in the game. She is a lot of fun to watch in person, but I don't think she played up to her potential because of the nature of the play we witnessed last night.


So far, the Big 12 is 7-0 in first round games, with only Texas yet to play today. Here are the scores so far from the league in the NCAAs:

Iowa State 58, Georgia Tech 55
Texas A&M 91, Texas-San Antonio 52
Baylor 88, Fresno State 67
Oklahoma State 85, East Tennessee State 73
Kansas State 69, Chattanooga 59
Nebraska 61, Xavier 58
Oklahoma 69, Illinois State 61


WNIT score from Saturday:

Texas Tech 82, Texas St. 49

The Big 12 led the country in attendance again. The article from Big12sports.com:


March 23, 2008

Big 12 women's basketball has reached one million in home attendance for the second consecutive year and third time overall.

The league's current attendance for 2007-08 is 1,000,990 with at least three more home WNIT games to play. The conference crossed the one-million threshold on March 22 when Texas Tech hosted Texas State in a WNIT game.

The Big 12 has led the nation in attendance the past eight years and is the only league to hit the one-million milestone in NCAA history. In addition to 2006-07 and 2007-08, the conference also recorded one million fans in 2001-02. Last year's final attendance of 1,023,576 is the NCAA record.

Here is the schedule for Big 12 teams playing tonight in the NCAAs (all times Central)...

Baylor vs. Pittsburgh @ Albuquerque, N.M. - ESPN2, 6:00 p.m.
Oklahoma State vs. Florida State @ Des Moines, Iowa - ESPN2, 6:00 p.m.
Hartford vs. Texas A&M @ Baton Rouge, La. - ESPN2, 8:30 p.m.
Iowa State vs. Rutgers @ Des Moines, Iowa - ESPN2, 8:30 p.m.


There are also two WNIT games tonight for league teams...

Evansville at Kansas, 7:00 p.m. (CDT)
Gonzaga at Colorado, 8:00 p.m. (CDT)


Last night, Texas beat Minnesota, 72-55, to make the Big 12 8-0 in the first round.

The Big 12 took a huge hit over the past couple of days (as was expected somewhat, but not quite this bad!). After going 8-0 in round 1, the conference was a collective 2-6 in round 2, with only Texas A&M and Oklahoma State advancing to the sweet 16. Five of the six teams lost to the Big East, which clearly has better teams at the top of their conference, although in defense of the Big 12, three of the teams had all lost key contributors over the course of the season (all starters for Iowa State, Baylor, and Kansas State). We'll never know if those players being healthy would have made a difference, but it is something to consider.

Many of the games were exciting nail-biters. The OSU/FSU game in Des Moines went to OT and came down to a foul being called on FSU with 0.7 seconds remaining. The first free throw by Andrea Riley was bricked, the second went in and Riley intercepted the inbounds pass by FSU in their last gasp. The extra period was rockin' as the building was filling up with ISU fans waiting for their game to begin and probably 80-90% of the crowd that saw the end of the game was on their feet cheering for the Cowgirls.

The OU/Notre Dame game went to OT as well. Once again, Oklahoma's guards could not step up enough (as was the case most of the conference season) and produce. Jenna Plumley hit six 3 pointers, but the other guards were quiet and most of the scoring came from the Paris twins once again. The bummer for OU fans was that all Oklahoma had to do was win this game to play in the regional semi-finals 30 minutes from their home court in Oklahoma City.

Iowa State vs Rutgers was an exciting game with over 8000 people watching. Rutgers had the better players, but honestly I think ISU had the better team. We were so close to turning the corner the whole game. ISU would get down by 12, then cut it to 4. Down by 10, cut it to 5. It was by far the worst officiated game ISU has had to contend with this entire season, but they still hung around. The biggest back-breaker, I think, was two consecutive wide-open 3 point shots by Epiphany Prince that moved a 4 point deficit up to 10. We had been on a good run and blew it by not getting back on defense twice within 30 seconds. Frustrating. I've never seen my girls play and fight harder and I could not be more proud of the effort they gave for that game or over the course of the season, especially considering the obstacles placed in front of them.

The only other game I saw myself was Texas and UConn. Texas was out of the game about five minutes (or less) into it. I expected them to make a game of it, but the Horns never showed up. Caught a few minutes here and there of Nebraska vs. Maryland. NU gave the Terps quite a run - coming back from being down 15 in the first half to only trailing by a single point at halftime. The Huskers had tied the game a couple of times in the second half, but Maryland was able to pull away for the win. The sweet 16 round for the Terps bested last year's performance when they bowed out in the second round as defending national champs.

Scores from the past couple of days:

Oklahoma State 73, Florida State 72 (OT)
Pittsburgh 67, Baylor 59
Rutgers 69, Iowa State 58
Texas A&M 63, Hartford 39
Louisville 80, Kansas State 63
Connecticut 89, Texas 55
Maryland 76, Nebraska 64
Notre Dame 79, Oklahoma 75 ( OT )

Kansas 82, Evansville 60 (WNIT)
Colorado 82, Gonzaga 68 (WNIT)

These are the remaining games for Big 12 teams (all times central):

Wed., March 26 - WNIT Third Round:
TCU at Texas Tech - Lubbock, Texas, 7:00 p.m.

Thu., March 27 - WNIT Third Round:
Kansas at Michigan State - East Lansing, Mich., 6:00 p.m.
Villanova at Colorado - Boulder, Colo., 7:00 p.m.

Sat., March 29 - NCAA Regional Semifinal
LSU vs. Oklahoma State - New Orleans, La., ESPN, ESPN360 1:30 p.m.

Sun., March 30 - NCAA Regional Semifinal
Duke vs. Texas A&M - Oklahoma City, Okla., ESPN2, ESPN360 6:00 p.m.

Another Big 12 team goes down...

Texas Tech lost at home to TCU, 81-74, last night in Lubbock. This was another long season for the Lady Raiders, but making the post-season was an accomplishment (however modest). Tech should have 8 seniors on the roster for next season (the result of recruiting several juco players), so the expectation will be for them to produce. Tech finished with 17 wins on the season vs. 16 losses.

Big 12 teams went 1-1 last night in the WNIT.

Kansas lost at Michigan State, 58-54. Danielle McCray of KU led all scorers with 18 points. MSU's Alyssa DeHaan scored 16 for the Spartans. KU finishes the season 17-16.

Colorado defeated Villanova in Boulder 64-58 to improve to 18-14 on the season. The Buffs were led by senior star Jackie McFarland's 32 points and 12 rebounds.

One team for the Big 12 remains standing in each of the two post-season tournaments. Texas A&M beat Duke, 77-63, to play Tennessee for an appearance in the Final Four. Oklahoma State lost to LSU in New Orleans, 67-52, ending their season.

In the WNIT, Colorado beat TCU 96-90 in overtime to keep their season going.

The Des Moines paper listed official attendance figures for NCAA first and second round games yesterday. The games held in Des Moines were the best-attended of the 8 host sites.

(host site, average attendance per session, total attendance for all three sessions)
Des Moines -----------7550; 22,650
College Park ---------7438; 22,315
Albuquerque ---------7052; 21,156
Bridgeport ------------6007; 18,021
Stanford --------------5021; 15,062
Norfolk ----------------5013; 15,038
West Lafayette ------4480; 13,440
Baton Rouge ---------4361; 13,083

Texas A&M lost to Tennessee tonight, 53-45, in the regional final. They played the Vols tough and had their chances near the end to pull this one out, but just couldn't get it done. UT's Candice Parker's shoulder popped out twice in the first half - but it only slowed her down. Even at 50%, she's hard to stop.

So, all the Big 12 teams are out of the NCAAs. That means only Colorado (who knew?) is still alive and playing games this year. The Buffs will host Marquette in the WNIT semi-finals tomorrow (Wednesday) night. Both teams have a record of 19-14. The other semi game will feature North Carolina State at Michigan State. This is the final moment for the Big 12 to shine - c'mon, Colorado! Bring home a trophy!

The post-season is done for the Big 12. Colorado lost to Marquette last night 86-72. CU was down by as many as 25, trailed at the half by 20, but managed to cut the deficit to 12 in the second half. That was as close as they could get, though. Jackie McFarland ended her career in Boulder as the school's second all-time leading scorer with 1,957 points.

Marquette will face Michigan State in the WNIT finals, as the Spartans beat NC State 58-57 in the other game from last night.

Good year for the Big 12, but another disappointing finish as a whole. Eight teams into the NCAA and only two getting beyond the second round, with only one playing for a final four appearance. The league doesn't lose many top seniors for next year, so the teams should be just as strong, if not more so, as this season.

Baylor's Jessika Bradley announced she's leaving the program and will transfer to a school closer to her hometown of Sacramento.

Iowa State's Toccara Ross applied for, and was granted, approval for a fifth year of eligibility after an ACL tear in December ended her senior season. That means she gets to go to Hawaii for the Thanksgiving tournament!

Been a while since I had anything to post here. Two Iowa State players signed pre-season contracts with WNBA teams this year. Brittany Wilkins was working out with the San Antonio Silver Stars and Tracy Gahan was with the Connecticut Sun, but both were waived this week as the final team rosters were decided.

Gahan has never made a WNBA roster, but has had a very successful pro career in Australia since she left ISU in 2002. Wilkins was a member of the Sacramento Monarchs two years ago and made the final cut last year before being released shortly after the season started. Several stops around the world later, she ended up playing in Sweden near the Arctic Circle with fellow Big 12 alum and Oklahoma star, Leah Rush.

No one else from Iowa State is in the pros right now. Will try to see who else from the Big 12 is playing in the WNBA and post that later...

Found this list of Big 12 players currently in the WNBA, thanks to the work of someone on another website (www.hoopscoop.net). As far as I know, it's complete.

Chicago - Jia Perkins, Texas Tech

Connecticut - Jamie Carey, Texas; Danielle Page, Nebraska

Detroit - Plenette Pierson, Texas Tech

Houston - Tameka Dixon, Kansas

Indiana - LaToya Bond, Missouri

Minnesota - Anna DeForge, Nebraska; Nicole Ohlde, Kansas State

New York - Tiffany Jackson, Texas

Sacramento - A’Quonesia Franklin, Texas A&M

San Antonio - Morenike Atunrase, Texas A&M; Sophia Young, Baylor

Seattle - Sheryl Swoopes, Texas Tech

Washington - Laurie Koehn, Kansas State; Nakia Sanford, Kansas; Bernice Mosby, Baylor


Wilkins got waived from San Antonio on the day before final rosters needed to be in place.

Recently, an EF-5 tornado destroyed nearly half of Parkersburg, Iowa. Parkersburg is where an Iowa State recruit (for '09-'10) Chelsea Poppens goes to school. The Ames Tribune published a fascinating article on Poppens, who experienced the disaster first-hand. Hope you find it as interesting as I did...


PARKERSBURG - A lump forms in Chelsea Poppens' throat.

She gazes at Aplington-Parkersburg High School, her home for the last three years. All the fond memories - the fun with friends in study hall, the quick conversation between classes and the time spent with boyfriend John Simon - roll through her head.

Poppens takes a deep breath.

From the school's auto shop, Poppens steps over wires to get to the gym. This is where she dominated on the volleyball court, earned all-state honors in basketball. What she did here is the reason she will play college basketball at Iowa State.

Poppens' eyes water.

She can't make it into the gym. Wood chunks, metal and broken desks make it impossible to travel. She stands for 10 seconds, gazing out at all of the debris.

It's no longer a place where she led the Falcons to victories. It's a reminder of May 25.

Poppens composes herself. The emotions pass, but they are never far from the surface. Things have changed, she says.

Things would change for anyone caught in an EF-5 tornado, like the one that ravaged Parkersburg. Life as anyone knew it would cease to exist. The day would remain with that person forever, always in the back of their mind.

It certainly has for Poppens.

"I don't know what to say," Poppens said. "We won't be graduating in the high school. We probably won't have any home games in any sports. It won't be the same."

A long 15 seconds
It was supposed to be a celebration.

Simon graduated high school a week earlier. All of his friends and family were to descend on Matt's Bar and Grill to congratulate him on finishing 12th grade and say good luck wrestling at Northern Iowa.

It was going to be his day. Then he heard the sirens.

Everyone ran outside to see what was going on. Ambulances flew by on U.S. Highway 57. And a gray cloud formed. In a matter of seconds, it doubled in size and started throwing trees in the air.

The tornado was upon them.

Seventeen people hurried inside, cramming into the bar's freezer. There wasn't enough room for everyone, so Simon, Poppens and 12 others dashed for a car wash next door. They tried to get inside, but the locked metal door wouldn't budge.

In a last ditch effort, everyone huddled together in a small space between the car wash's two buildings. On one side was brick wall, on the other cement, above them the black sky.

This would have to do.

Simon closed his eyes, not believing this is what a tornado's like. This is what it's like to die. He waited for the walls to fall on him, and when they did, to his surprise, it felt like someone jumped on his back.

When the car wash collapsed on Poppens, it cut open the back of her head. The wound would require staples. Her injuries would have been worse if her friend, Dale, didn't stop the walls from crushing everyone. He saw them collapsing on his friends, so he did his best to hold them up and spent the next week in the hospital with a back injury because of it.

When talking about the tornado, Poppens and Simon don't mention howling winds, sounding like a train. Nor do they mention feeling the force of the tornado on their exposed bodies.

Instead, they recall how the seconds felt like hours.

"It was the longest 15 seconds of my life," Poppens said.

Wounds are still too fresh
Poppens points to where the car wash used to be. Bulldozers destroyed it a week or so after the tornado hit. She points to a lot of things around the wreckage. It is hard for her and Simon to be back at the three remaining walls of the bar.

Poppens, a 6-foot-1-inch forward who just finished her junior year of high school, will not look at any of the debris in front of her. She will lead visitors to the 7-foot by 14-foot freezer where half of the party hid during the tornado. But she won't enter the room, instead looking off into the distance. Simon does enter and chokes up, fighting back tears.

He walks through the wreckage with a lump in his throat. His body is tense. His hands are clenched in the pockets of white cargo pants. Silence is not his friend. He talks as if to fill the empty space of the destruction.

Poppens hugs herself for most of the tour, as if to make herself feel safe that the tornado has past and things will get better. Her fingers clutch her orange A-P volleyball shirt. In tense moments, like when she shows visitors the two broken TVs and mattress that sit where the bar itself used to be, she grips the shirt so hard her hands turn beet red.

Both are willing to talk about the stories of others in town or how the car wash saved their lives. But when asked about what they thought as the tornado hit, they say a few words and quickly change the subject.

The wounds from that afternoon are too fresh.

"You are still in shock almost to the point where you want to believe that it's not true," Simon says.

'It looked like a war zone'
The tornado struck Parkersburg at 4:58 p.m., according to the clocks stuck on that time in the high school.

Seconds later Poppens emerged from what remained of the car wash. Roofs lay in front yards. Power lines littered the street. Everywhere she looked, wood and metal covered the grass.

With everything gone, Poppens assumed everyone else in the town was dead. Seven people did die in the tornado. More than 300 homes in Parkersburg were destroyed. Another 100 were damaged.

"It looked like a war zone," Simon said. "My sister's fiance was in Iraq for a couple of years and said this was 10 times worse than anything he saw there."

To Poppens' surprise, a small group of people started gathering a few hundred yards from her. Poppens sprinted to them, hugged them and started crying with them.

She had no idea who they were, but that didn't matter. Someone else survived. She wasn't alone.

"You didn't know what was still left out there," Poppens said.

With cell phone towers destroyed and everyone trying to contact loved ones, it took 10 minutes for Poppens to get in touch with her family at her house, a few miles away in Aplington.

Poppens recalls babbling on and on to her family about the destruction. Her family remembers her screaming into the phone about no one else being left.

Twenty minutes after the tornado hit, Poppens' father found his daughter. After making sure his daughter was OK, he soon left to go help pull the body of a high school friend out of the wreckage.

"It was an emotional day for him," Poppens said.

Lost possessions
Out of nowhere Simon sprints back to what remains of the bar. His eyes are wide as he grabs a trophy sitting on top of a fridge. His spirits sink when he reads it, "2nd place P'burg Wednesday Softball."

"I thought it was one of mine," Simon says.

When Simon walks off, Poppens says he lost his house on the edge of town. All of his mementos, athletic trophies and family possessions have disappeared. Every so often, he'll find something of his, and its like Christmas morning with the smell of rotten wood and mildew lingering in the air.

"The first few days were hard for him," Poppens says. "But he's been doing better as his graduation cards have come in."

Where was he?
Simon heard the piercing howl and knew something was wrong. He turned, saw his mother shaking and screaming, "Where is Jordan?"

Simon looked around. He couldn't see his brother.

Where was he?

But before he could go look for him, Simon saw a head sticking up out of a pile of wood. Six people were buried. A group of men sprung into action. With each piece of debris Simon grabbed, he wondered if someone was doing the same thing for his brother.

Once the two kids and four adults were safe, Simon took off after his brother, hoping he wouldn't find his body along the road. Simon walked down what remained of the highway for 20 minutes before spotting his brother's truck coming straight at him.

When the tornado hit, Jordan hopped into his truck, drove toward New Hartford and outran it. He would have been back right away but downed telephone lines slowed him down.

"I was never so happy to see my brother in my life," Simon said.

'Everything is gone'
It is two weeks later, and Poppens still can't find the words to describe what happened. Instead, she tells about getting medical treatment, calling the ISU coaching staff to let them know she was OK and how she's done nothing but pick up wood pieces since May 26.

If she can't put such a traumatic event into words, she hopes her actions can.

When she finishes speaking, Poppens looks off into the distance again. She fights back tears again, wiping her eyes as she starts to survey what has happened to her area.

"It's just that everything is gone that you are used to," Poppens says. "You were there a day before and everything was fine. Now it's gone."


Bobby La Gesse can be reached at 232-2161, Ext. 358, or rlagesse@amestrib.com.
©Mid-Iowa Newspapers 2008

Finally, Iowa State has added some video to youtube from the women's basketball programs biggest wins over the years. That's cool to me, because I can post the links here and share the biggest moments that I love so much and have been a part of!

First, highlights (from our own -ISU's- camera, not FoxSports - no commentary - but the rest are all from broadcast tv) of the win OT win over #1 seed Kansas State in the 2008 Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals - the first time a top seed had ever lost in its first round game. Watching that ball hit the rim and spin around seemed like it took an eternity to make up its mind what it was going to do. There is a better link two posts below that has the original FoxSports broadcast of the game's final 12 or so seconds of OT (which lasts about three minutes) - and it does a great job capturing the crowd noise and excitement of the end of this game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFw3rXzBe2M


Also, the same game from Kansas State's point of view. Thought it gave a much better look at Shalee Lehnings shot at the buzzer that went around the rim twice before dropping to the floor, but it isn't there. =(

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1y06hUhtsv8


Here is the 2OT win over Iowa in 2003 at Hilton Coliseum. Since the rivalry against Iowa resumed in the mid 90s, Iowa has not won in Ames. This game has become considered the greatest ever between the two teams. ISU has won 9 of the last 11 meetings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV9yDXgbttg


This is the 2001 Big 12 Championship game vs. Oklahoma. Megan Taylor hit what was a (then) record 6 three point shots to keep ISU ahead of OU the entire game. OU went on to play for the national title this season. But they couldn't beat us.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izMSKBz9rR4


Here is an NCAA 2nd round game in Hilton Coliseum against Illinois from 2000. ISU was down 11 in the second half before Desiree Francis hit 3 3 pointers in about a minute and a half in front of nearly 13,500 people - then an all-time NCAA record for 2nd round attendance. I have this on tape and it remains my favorite game to watch over and over.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n73k4IWayIA


This clip is from the 2000 Big 12 Championship game vs. Texas. It was the first tournament title for ISU. The amazing thing was the crowd listed at around 9,100 - nearly 9,000 of which were Cyclone fans, and the reason they called KC's Municipal Auditorium "Hilton South." The audio states that Texas tied with ISU for the regular season title, but that's not right. Texas was the 5 or 6 (I forget which) seed in the tournament, while ISU tied with Oklahoma and Texas Tech for the regular season title that season and was the top seed in this tournament. Oh well, everyone makes mistakes!...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdEn_Y5XwQE


And, finally, this is the clip from probably the biggest win in Cyclone women's basketball history. In the regional semifinal, ISU (as a 4 seed) played UCONN (the 1 seed) and knocked them off by hitting 5 three point shots from four different players in the final six minutes. SO worth the 10 hour overnight drive to Cincinnati for this game!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhVC6WMM3EE


Hope you like these links. These truly are special memories for me and I'm beyond happy to be able to show them to others this way.

Cool, I'll have to check out these videos when I get home.

The Poppens/Simon piece was very moving. I have relatives in Iowa Falls which is really close to Parkersburg.

Iowa State vs Kansas State

This is the 2008 Big XII tournament game between 8 seeded Iowa State and 1 seeded Kansas State. The video is of the final few seconds of overtime. This game was voted the Big XII women's game of the year and women's play of the year (Allison Lacey's drive to the basket and follow-up free throw).

CycloneMatt was at this game. I unfortunately was at a school inservice.

Plumley "arrested" for stealing makeup from Wal Mart. She will be disciplined internally by Coale and staff.

Plus she (Plumley, who plays for Oklahoma, btw) may be facing fines and possible jail time (which is unlikely for this). Not a smart move on her part. I doubt she's enjoyed having message boards having field days with the situation - hope she will have learned a lesson. But there is also the chance that this is merely the first time she got caught, not the first time it happened. Who knows? We probably won't unless we read about it again somewhere down the line.

Jenna Plumley was suspended indefinitely today by the Sooners and her profile was removed from the Sooner women's basketball roster as well. Seems like this was not the first instance of trouble recently, although nothing specific has been mentioned.

http://www.newsok.com/article/3271463/

This loss will also hurt OU's 3pt shooting next year.

One of these days I will start a thread for Big 12 women's hoops 2008-09, but I'm still putting this in here (because I can, basically!).

Iowa State just landed what could be called it's biggest (literally and figuratively) recruit in years for the '09-'10 season. 6'6" Anna Prins from Colorado verbally committed today after considering ISU, Kansas State, Texas, and Colorado. Prins has led her high school team to two consecutive state titles. She is the fourth verbal to ISU for next season, joining Amanda Zimmerman of Huxley, Iowa; Chelsea Poppens of Parkersburg, Iowa (the one featured in the tornado article above); and Jessica Schroll of Michigan.

This is also 'big' because Baylor has a girl who is 6'8" coming in that same year, who dunks in high school. Will be nice to have someone with enough height to defend her. Prins will basically be starting as soon as the first game of her freshman season arrives - there should be no one else that would be a true 5 player on the team at that point (and definitely no one with that height) since Toccara Ross, Nicky Wieben, & Jocelyn Anderson will all be graduated after this coming season. Congrats to Coach Fennelly for landing this one and making the recruiting class of '09-'10 one of the best in Iowa State history!

Looks like the ongoing saga of Jenna Plumley at Oklahoma has come to an end. She did not enroll at OU for the fall semester and apparently sent feelers out to three other schools about transferring - New Mexico, Lamar, and UTEP, with unconfirmed reports sending her to Lamar. Guess she decided not to try and stick around Norman any longer or try to earn her way back onto the team. That leaves such a huge hole in the Sooners' offense, especially perimeter offense. We'll see what happens when the season gets under way in just over two months (holy crap - it's that close already!! ).

It's official - Plumley has enrolled at Lamar and will retain her remaining two years of eligibility, taking their court for the first time in the 2009-10 season after sitting out the required year after transferring to a same-division school.

Ok, I don't really have anything new to add to this thread at the moment - in fact this will probably be my last post on it. Because... I am really itchin' to get started on the new season!!! As soon as there starts to be information released by the Big 12 or Iowa State or any of the schools, I will start posting predictions, who lost how much (or lost nothing), etc. Athlon came out with their college basketball magazine already, so the others should follow soon, along with all the official information. Hopefully, I will be able to start the '08-'09 thread by the end of the month. Thanks to all who have stopped by to read about this past season - nearing 7000 views! Stay tuned...