Iowa State Cyclones women's basketball

Iowa State Cyclones
Iowa State Cyclones
	2015–16 Iowa State Cyclones women's basketball team
University	Iowa State University
Head coach	Bill Fennelly (20th season)
Conference	Big 12 Conference
Arena	Hilton Coliseum ; (capacity: 14,356)
Nickname	Cyclones
Colors	Cardinal and Gold;
Uniforms
Home	Away ;
NCAA tournament Elite Eight
	1999, 2009
NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen
	1999, 2000, 2001, 2009, 2010
NCAA tournament second round
	1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
NCAA tournament appearances
	1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
Conference tournament champions
	2000, 2001
Conference regular season champions
	2000

The Iowa State Cyclones women's basketball team represents Iowa State University (ISU) and competes in the Big 12 Conference of NCAA Division I.

Overview

Iowa State University is known for having one of the best women's basketball programs in the nation. Since the founding of the Big 12 in 1996, ISU has had only one losing season, has won three conference titles (1 regular season, 2 tournament), and has the best conference tournament record in the Big 12. Iowa State has made it to and won the Big 12 tournament championship game more times than any team except Oklahoma. Bill Fennelly is the coach of the women's team and largely responsible for building the program. In games played since the Big 12 was founded in 1996, ISU has a winning record against every Big 12 school except Baylor.

On a national level, since 1996 the Cyclones have made the NCAA tournament eleven times, including advancing five times to the Sweet Sixteen and twice to the Elite Eight. Additionally, Iowa State has made the WNIT twice in that span. ISU was in the AP Top 25 poll for over four years and was in the Top 10 for 34 consecutive weeks starting in the 1999 season. ISU has been ranked in the top 10 for attendance for the past ten seasons, including a #3 ranking for the 2008-2009 season which led all Big 12 schools and #2 nationally for the 2012-2013 season.^[1]

Conferences

Iowa State played three games in an annual tournament against Big Eight Conference schools (1977–1982). These games would eventually be expanded to a full regular conference season within the Big Eight (1983).

Coaches

Gloria Crosby

In 1973, Coach Gloria Crosby led the Iowa State Women's Basketball team through their first season as a Division I program. Prior to that, women were only able to play intramural basketball. The team, at that point known as the "Cagers", played their first game on January 12, 1974, losing to Northern Iowa by 73-38. Crosby and the Iowa State Women's Basketball team got their first win a week later over Wartburg, 51-38. Gloria Crosby coached just one season and finished her basketball coach career at ISU with an 8-8 record. She would become the head coach of the Iowa State Softball team.^[2]

Lynn Wheeler

Lynn Wheeler took over as head coach for ISU's second season of women's basketball (1974). Wheeler coached for six seasons and had winning records in three of those seasons. In Wheeler's second season, she led Iowa State to its first 20 win season. Lynn Wheeler resigned after finishing with 14 straight defeats, stating "I've taken this team as far as I can."^[3]

Deb Oing

In 1981, Deb Oing became Iowa State’s third coach. Over four seasons she coached ISU to a 31-80 record and was coach in 1984 for ISU's only winless conference season (0-14). She coached Iowa State to the program’s first official Big Eight conference win, an 80-76 decision over Oklahoma in Ames on November 27, 1982. In 1982, Oing served with Team USA as an assistant.^[4]

Pam Wettig

Pam Wettig became Iowa State's fourth head coach in 1985. Wettig coached for eight years and finished a 100-121 record. Wettig coached Iowa State to their first win in the Big Eight Conference tournament in 1990 (the Big Eight switched to a single-elimination event in 1983). Wettig was named Big Eight Coach of the Year for the 1985-1986 season.

Theresa Becker

Theresa Becker became Iowa State’s fifth coach (1993–1995), finishing a disappointing 18-63 over three seasons. Iowa State never finished better than a tie for 7th place in the Big Eight under Becker.

Bill Fennelly

In 1995 (one year before inception of the Big 12), Iowa State hired former University of Toledo head women's basketball coach, Bill Fennelly. When Fennelly arrived, Iowa State hadn't had a winning season in seven years and only five winning seasons ever. In his first season, Fennelly led the Cyclones to a 17-10 record. That is nearly as many wins as Fennelly's predecessor, Theresa Becker, had in her career (18) at ISU in the three previous years.

Fennelly came to Iowa State after building a successful program at Toledo (.758 overall winning percentage, three NCAA and three WNIT appearances). In nineteen seasons at Iowa State (1995–2014), Fennelly has continued that success, compiling a record of 410-184 overall and 177-118 in conference play.

Under Fennelly, Iowa State advanced to its first NCAA appearance (1997), won its first NCAA game (1998), and hosted five consecutive NCAA first and second round games (1998–2002) when host sites were earned, not pre-determined. Fennelly was national runner-up for the Associated Press (AP) Coach of the Year and guided the Cyclones to their first national ranking, reaching #22 (both in 1998). Iowa State advanced to the Elite 8 in 1999 and again in 2009. The Cyclones have made it to the Sweet 16 five times (1999–2001, 2009, 2010). Stacy Frese became Iowa State’s first AP All-American (1999). Iowa State won the Big 12 regular season title (2000) and two Big 12 Conference tournament championships (2000–2001). Iowa State defeated its first #1 ranked team (Texas Tech, ESPN poll) and advanced to its first post-season Final Four in the WNIT (both 2004).

Championships

Titles	Type	Year
Conference Championships^[5]
2	Big 12 Conference Tournament Championships	2000, 2001
1	Big 12 Conference Regular Season Title	2000
3 Total

Conference Tournament seeds

Big Eight Conference^[6]

Years →	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996
Seeds→	7	7	7	4	8	7	5	6	6	8	8	8	8	6

Big 12 Conference

Years →	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
Seeds→	6	2	2	1	3	6	8	9	5	9	5	8	3	2	5	4	2	5

NCAA Tournament history

ISU NCAA game against Georgia Tech in 2008

Round	Opponent	Score	Margin	ISU Seed	Opp Seed	ISU AP	Opp AP
1997 West Region
1st	Utah	57-66	-9	12	5	NR	NR
1998 Mideast Region
1st	Kent St.	79-76	+3	4	13	24	NR
2nd	Rutgers	61-62	-1	4	5	24	NR
1999 Mideast Region
1st	Santa Clara	74-61	+13	4	13	19	NR
2nd	Oregon	85-70	+15	4	5	19	16
Sweet 16	Connecticut	64-58	+6	4	1	19	4
Elite 8	Georgia	71-89	-18	4	3	19	12
2000 Midwest Region
1st	St. Francis	92-63	+29	3	14	10	NR
2nd	Illinois	79-68	+11	3	6	10	NR
Sweet 16	Penn St	65-66	-1	3	2	10	NR
2001 Mideast Region
1st	Howard	100-61	+38	2	15	8	NR
2nd	Florida St.	85-70	+15	2	7	8	NR
Sweet 16	Vanderbilt	65-84	-19	2	3	8	10
2002 Midwest Region
1st	Temple	72-57	+15	3	14	10	NR
2nd	Brigham Young	69-75	-6	3	11	10	NR
2005 Kansas City Region
1st	Utah	61-73	-12	7	10	19	NR
2007 Dallas Region
1st	Washington	79-60	+19	6	11	24	NR
2nd	Georgia	56-76	-20	6	3	24	14
2008 Greensboro Region
1st	Georgia Tech	58-55	+3	7	10	NR	NR
2nd	Rutgers	58-69	-11	7	2	NR	7
2009 Berkeley Region
1st	E. Tennessee St	85-53	+32	4	13	17	NR
2nd	Ball St	71-57	+14	4	12	17	NR
Sweet 16	Michigan St	69-68	+1	4	9	17	NR
Elite 8	Stanford	53-74	-21	4	2	17	2
2010 Dayton Region
1st	Lehigh	79-42	+37	4	13	16	NR
2nd	Wisconsin-Green Bay	60-56	+4	4	12	16	NR
Sweet 16	Connecticut	36-74	-38	4	1	16	1
2011 Philadelphia Region
1st	Marist	64-74	-10	7	10	NR	NR
2012 Kingston Region
1st	Green Bay	57-71	-14	10	7	NR	10
2013 Spokane Region
1st	Gonzaga	72-60	+12	5	12	23	NR
2nd	Georgia	60-65	-5	5	4	23	14
2014 Stanford Region
1st	Florida State	44-55	-11	7	10	NR	NR
2015 Lexington Region
1st	Dayton	66-78	-12	7	10	NR	NR
NCAA Tournament Record: 17-16

Hilton Magic

The Cyclones play at Hilton Coliseum, on the campus of Iowa State University, in Ames, Iowa. The Cyclones’ yearly attendance average has grown from 733 fans per game the season before Coach Fennelly came to ISU to over 10,000 per contest in 2011-2012. ISU’s attendance has ranked among the top 11 schools nationally in each of the last 16 seasons, including ranking fourth for three straight years from 1999 to 2002 and fourth or higher for seven straight years from 2007 to 2014. Iowa State was ranked 2nd in attendance in 2013 and 2014. The Cyclones enjoyed their first-ever sellout crowd in a 2004 WNIT/NIT doubleheader against Saint Joseph's. In 2009, Iowa State had a higher total attendance with over 156,000 than 16 of the 31 Division I conferences.^[7]^[8]^[9]

Season	Coach	Avg Attendance	Home Games	National Rank
1986-87	Pam Wettig	427	12
1987-88	Pam Wettig	944	10
1988-89	Pam Wettig	579	12
1989-90	Pam Wettig	635	10
1990-91	Pam Wettig	533	9
1991-92	Pam Wettig	423	11
1992-93	Theresa Becker	653	11
1993-94	Theresa Becker	725	13
1994-95	Theresa Becker	733	14
1995-96	Bill Fennelly	1706	10
1996-97	Bill Fennelly	1688	13
1997-98	Bill Fennelly	3775	17
1998-99	Bill Fennelly	6115	15	11
1999-00	Bill Fennelly	11184	16	4
2000-01	Bill Fennelly	11370	16	4
2001-02	Bill Fennelly	10296	16	4
2002-03	Bill Fennelly	9632	14	5
2003-04	Bill Fennelly	8021	18	9
2004-05	Bill Fennelly	7396	15	9
2005-06	Bill Fennelly	7668	16	7
2006-07	Bill Fennelly	8906	16	7
2007-08	Bill Fennelly	9388	17	4
2008-09	Bill Fennelly	9754	16	3
2009-10	Bill Fennelly	9316	19	3
2010-11	Bill Fennelly	9370	17	4
2011-12	Bill Fennelly	10125	16	3
2012-13	Bill Fennelly	9970	15	2
2013-14	Bill Fennelly	9916	17	2

Head coaching records

Statistics overview
Season	Coach	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Iowa State (no conference games) (1973–1976)
1973-1974	Gloria Crosby	8-8
Gloria Crosby:		8-8
1974-1975	Lynn Wheeler	12-9
1975-1976	Lynn Wheeler	20-8
Iowa State (Big Eight Conference -- round-robin tournament only) (1976–1982)
1976-1977	Lynn Wheeler	19-11	1-2	6th
1977-1978	Lynn Wheeler	13-15	1-2	6th
1978-1979	Lynn Wheeler	10-19	1-2	7th
1979-1980	Lynn Wheeler	6-19	0-3	8th
Lynn Wheeler:		80-81
1980-1981	Debbie Oing	7-18	1-2	6th
1981-1982	Debbie Oing	11-20	1-2	4th
Iowa State (Big Eight Conference) (1982–1996)
1982-1983	Debbie Oing	9-18	3-9	7th
1983-1984	Debbie Oing	4-24	0-14	8th
Debbie Oing:		31-80	3-23 (2 seasons)
1984-1985	Pam Wettig	12-16	3-11	7th
1985-1986	Pam Wettig	19-9	8-6	T-4th
1986-1987	Pam Wettig	12-16	2-12	8th
1987-1988	Pam Wettig	13-14	5-9	7th
1988-1989	Pam Wettig	15-13	6-8	5th
1989-1990	Pam Wettig	14-15	3-11	6th
1990-1991	Pam Wettig	11-15	6-7	5th
1991-1992	Pam Wettig	4-23	2-12	T-7th
Pam Wettig:		100-121	35-76
1992-1993	Theresa Becker	2-25	1-13	T-7th
1993-1994	Theresa Becker	8-19	3-11	T-7th
1994-1995	Theresa Becker	8-19	1-13	8th
Theresa Becker:		18-63	5-37
1995–1996	Bill Fennelly	17-10	5-9	6th
Iowa State (Big 12 Conference) (1996–present)
1996–1997	Bill Fennelly	17-12	9-7	T-5th	NCAA 1st Round
1997-1998	Bill Fennelly	25-8	12-4	2nd	NCAA 2nd Round
1998-1999	Bill Fennelly	25-8	12-4	2nd	NCAA Elite Eight
1999-2000	Bill Fennelly	27-6	13-3	T-1st	NCAA Sweet 16
2000-2001	Bill Fennelly	27-6	12-4	3rd	NCAA Sweet 16
2001-2002	Bill Fennelly	24-9	9-7	6th	NCAA 2nd Round
2002-2003	Bill Fennelly	12-16	7-9	8th
2003-2004	Bill Fennelly	18-15	7-9	T-8th	NIT Semifinal
2004-2005	Bill Fennelly	23-7	12-4	T-3rd	NCAA 1st Round
2005–2006	Bill Fennelly	18-13	7-9	T-8th	NIT 2nd Round
2006–2007	Bill Fennelly	26-9	10-6	T-4th	NCAA 2nd Round
2007–2008	Bill Fennelly	21-13	7-9	T-7th	NCAA 2nd Round
2008–2009	Bill Fennelly	27-9	11-5	T-3rd	NCAA Elite Eight
2009–2010	Bill Fennelly	25-8	11-5	T-2nd	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2010-2011	Bill Fennelly	22-11	9-7	5th	NCAA 1st Round
2011-2012	Bill Fennelly	18-13	9-9	T-4th	NCAA 1st Round
2012-2013	Bill Fennelly	24-9	12-6	2nd	NCAA 2nd Round
2013-2014	Bill Fennelly	20-11	9-1	5th	NCAA 1st Round
2014-2015	Bill Fennelly	18-13	9-9
2015-2016	Bill Fennelly	6-3
Bill Fennelly:		440-209	192-134
Total:		677-562
National champion Postseason invitational champion Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion Conference tournament champion

Retired jerseys

Tonya Burns #42 Played from 1981-1985
Jayme Olson #53 Played from 1994-1998
Megan Taylor #51 Played from 1997-2001^[10]

References

^ http://web1.ncaa.org/app_data/weeklyrpi/2009WBBattend1.html
^ http://www.cyclones.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=46644&SPID=4249&DB_OEM_ID=10700&ATCLID=545122
^ "Video". CNN. March 17, 1980. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
^ http://www.usabasketball.com/inside.php?page=history_content&id=10
^ "Iowa State Women's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). Iowa State University. 2008. Retrieved 04/01/09. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
^ http://www.big12sports.com/pdf1/134781.pdf
^ http://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/stats/w_basketball_RB/2010/attendance.pdf
^ http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100528/SPORTS020605/100528027/1094/SPORTS0206/Cyclone-basketball-Bill-Fennelly-s-son-joins-women-s-team-s-staff
^ Gouldsmith, Ben (11:49 pm March 14, 2012 Updated: 1:07 am March 15, 2012). "Women's Basketball: Climbing the attendance charts". Ames Tribune. Retrieved March 17, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
^ http://www.iowastatedaily.com/sports/article_8915e23a-e14a-53fc-8f30-5c05a7dcb934.html

External links

[1] ttp://web1.ncaa.org/app_data/weeklyrpi/2009WBBattend1.html

[2] ttp://www.cyclones.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=46644&SPID=4249&DB_OEM_ID=10700&ATCLID=545122

[3] "Video". CNN. March 17, 1980. Retrieved May 5, 2010.

[4] ttp://www.usabasketball.com/inside.php?page=history_content&id=10

[5] "Iowa State Women's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). Iowa State University. 2008. Retrieved 04/01/09. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)

[6] ttp://www.big12sports.com/pdf1/134781.pdf

[7] ttp://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/stats/w_basketball_RB/2010/attendance.pdf

[8] ttp://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100528/SPORTS020605/100528027/1094/SPORTS0206/Cyclone-basketball-Bill-Fennelly-s-son-joins-women-s-team-s-staff

[11-12attendence-9] Gouldsmith, Ben (11:49 pm March 14, 2012 Updated: 1:07 am March 15, 2012). "Women's Basketball: Climbing the attendance charts". Ames Tribune. Retrieved March 17, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

[10] ttp://www.iowastatedaily.com/sports/article_8915e23a-e14a-53fc-8f30-5c05a7dcb934.html

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v t e Iowa State Cyclones women's basketball
Venues	Hilton Coliseum (1973–present)
Rivalries	Iowa (Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series)
Culture & lore	Cy the Cardinal "ISU Fights" Iowa State Pep Band
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24

v t e Big 12 Conference women's basketball
Current teams	Arizona Wildcats Arizona State Sun Devils Baylor Bears BYU Cougars Cincinnati Bearcats Colorado Buffaloes Houston Cougars Iowa State Cyclones Kansas Jayhawks Kansas State Wildcats Oklahoma State Cowgirls TCU Horned Frogs Texas Tech Lady Raiders UCF Knights Utah Utes West Virginia Mountaineers
Championships & awards	Big 12 Conference women's basketball tournament Player of the Year
Conference challenges	Big 12/SEC Women's Challenge (2013–2023) Coast-to-Coast Challenge (2021–2022)
Seasons	1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25