Looking ahead: Postseason outlook for women’s basketball
ISU women’s basketball forward Hallie Christofferson moves her way down the court during the game against the Kansas Jayhawks on March 9, 2013, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. The Cyclones defeated the Jayhawks with a final score of 77-62. Christofferson had a total of 23 points in the game.
March 14, 2013
Coach Bill Fennelly and his team arrived back in Ames on March 11, 2013 after the Big 12 Championship in Dallas, where they lost in the championship game to No. 1-seeded Baylor.
He and his team have waited and will continue to wait throughout the weekend until March 18 to find out where they are headed to for the NCAA tournament.
With no time to waste, Fennelly said he was already looking at how his team’s postseason might look.
“I’ve just been crunching numbers … trying to figure out where you’re going to go, who you’re going to play,” Fennelly said. “We’ll manage it okay and give them some time this week.”
The Cyclones are coming off a Big 12 loss to the No. 1 team in the country. As the only team in the NCAA to have played the No. 1 team in the country for its conference title, the games come with a toll.
“You have to want to play those guys,” said junior Hallie Christofferson. “To hang with them and play up to their caliber says something about your team.”
Christofferson said Fennelly tells the team it is a unique squad, and to have the opportunity to play the Lady Bears three times in a season shows just what it is made of.
With a week after their final Big 12 game, the Cyclones have waited until March 18 to find out where their 2013 tournament future will land. But it may be another week before they see any action.
“This [past] week [has been] more let them rest up, get healthy, focus on school the last three days this week,” Fennelly said. “We might not play until Sunday. It’s a little hard.”
Senior Anna Prins averaged 22 points in the three games during the Big 12 tournament. She had a career-high of 32 against Oklahoma in the semi-finals and 20 against Brittney Griner and the Bears in the championship game.
Prins said as her final season as a Cyclone comes to an end, playing with poise and commitment has gotten her to where she is.
“It means a lot, and it’s always fun when you’re playing well,” Prins said. “I didn’t imagine that was going to happen. It just meant a lot to get to that point and to play together. That’s what means the most to me.”
Iowa State finds out where they will play in the first round of the NCAA tournament on the night of March 18. Check back to iowastatedaily.net for tournament coverage of the women.
