Updated at 9:59 p.m. CST March 18

FRESNO, Calif. — In the first round of the 1997 NCAA tournament, Utah beat Iowa State 66-57 in the Cyclones’ first-ever NCAA tournament berth. Now, eight years later, Iowa State will try to even the score.

The two teams will meet again when the No. 7 seed Cyclones face the No. 10 seed Utes at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif. at 7 p.m. Saturday in the first round of the Kansas City Regional. The game will be televised by ESPN2.

After a two-year absence from the NCAA tournament, senior Mary Fox said it was good to return the Cyclones to national prominence.

“It’s fun to be responsible for bringing this program back to where it belongs,” Fox said. “Just watching your name pop up like that brought chills, and I’m so happy for coach [Bill] Fennelly and the entire program. We’re all such good friends, and the best part about all of this is we got to experience it together.”

Fox and fellow seniors Lisa Kriener and Tracy Paustian are the only Cyclones to ever play in an NCAA tournament; the trio did so as freshman in 2002. Iowa State’s other two seniors, Katie Robinette and Anne O’Neil, played their freshmen years at Nebraska and Illinois, respectively.

“We’re just really excited to be in the tournament no matter what,” O’Neil said.

One major question mark for the Cyclones will be the status of O’Neil, the all-Big 12 performer, who has been wearing a protective boot and seen limited minutes in practice since the Big 12 tournament last week.

“It’s a stress reaction in her leg that could lead to a stress fracture,” Fennelly said. “There is not much we can do for it, except to keep her off it and not let her practice too much.”

O’Neil is the Cyclones leading scorer at 16.7 points per contest and has been playing team-high 34 minutes per game. O’Neil said she didn’t think the injury would hinder her performance against the Utes.

“It will be fine,” she said.

Iowa State will have to find a way to stop the inside-outside presence of forward Kim Smith and guard Shona Thorburn. The two average 17.6 and 15 points and pull down a combined 15.3 rebounds per game.

“The key is nothing easy, no silly fouls, don’t forget to guard them on certain plays, and hope they help you a little bit and have an off night,” Fennelly said. “That’s the nature of this tournament. We’re not na‹ve enough to think that we’re going to stop anybody.”

Both teams rely upon its outside threats; Iowa State is tied for first nationally in 3-pointers per game averaging 8.8 and ranks ninth in percentage at 38.7. O’Neil leads the nation in 3-point percentage, while Fox is 18th.

The Utes are tied for 14th in the nation, hitting seven 3-pointers per game and tied for 18th with a 36.8 percent success rate.

“It’s a great first-round game,” Fennelly said. “Both of us can shoot the three. Hopefully, we can play smart defensively. We’re not going to overwhelm you with full-court pressure and quickness at certain spots, but it should be a good first-round game.”