Cyclones begin Big 12 tourney with Nebraska
Photo: Bryan Langfeldt/Iowa Stat
Guard Kelsey Bolte bolts past a Jayhawk opponent during the game March 1 at Hilton Coliseum. It was Bolte’s last regular season home game, and she will be leading the Cyclones to the Big 12 tournament Tuesday in Kansas City.
March 7, 2011
With the Nebraska Cornhuskers on their way out of the Big 12 after this season, Iowa State will try for a third time to say goodbye to its Big Red rivals when the two meet Tuesday at the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City.
The Cyclones (21-9, 9-7 Big 12) already have two convincing victories over Nebraska this season with a 64-43 home win Jan. 11 and an 85-66 win in Lincoln on Jan. 26. Since those games, the Cyclones have only seen the Huskers on game film as they prepared for other Big 12 opponents.
“The odd part about it is that we played them in two of our first four conference games and haven’t seen them in a long, long time,” said ISU coach Bill Fennelly.
The 12th-seeded Cornhuskers (13-17, 3-13 Big 12) enter Tuesday’s matchup having lost three straight and 9 of their last 10 games.
“They know we’ve beat them twice, we know we’ve beat them twice, so I think that anything less than what we’ve already done isn’t acceptable,” said ISU senior guard Kelsey Bolte.
The backcourt duo of sophomore Lindsey Moore, an All-Big 12 honorable mention selection, and freshman Jordan Hooper combine for 28.7 of Nebraska’s 64 points per game. Moore scored a season-high 27 points in the first meeting between the two squads.
“Lindsay Moore is a dynamic scorer, and Jordan Hooper made the all-freshman team and can score a lot of points,” Fennelly said. “Any time that you play someone that has the ability to score a lot of points against us, that worries us because at times we’ve been vulnerable defensively.”
Bolte, an All-Big 12 first team selection, has scored 48 points already this season against the Huskers as she leads her team into the third matchup.
“This is big-time basketball right now, and everybody’s going to be ready to go,” Bolte said.
After winning four of their last five regular season games, Fennelly hopes his team can build off that momentum as it makes a run at a third Big 12 conference tournament championship.
“I think we’ve played really well the last four weeks, and hopefully we can move into March and play the kind of game that we’re capable of playing,” Fennelly said.
Tip time for the Cyclones and Huskers is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.
