KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Bill Fennelly came to the press conference after Wednesday’s game against Baylor noticeably damp.

His hair was slicked back, freshly styled.

Iowa State’s head coach didn’t take a shower after the Cyclones’ 73-48 victory over the Lady Bears in the Big 12 Tournament’s second round, but he did get lured into the shower where his players drenched him with water.

The team wasn’t celebrating the Cyclones’ win, but another milestone as Fennelly picked up his 300th victory as a head coach.

ISU sophomore point guard Lindsey Wilson and junior forward Tracy Gahan cracked a smile when asked if they had anything to do with Fennelly being wet. “We got him in the shower,” Wilson said, laughing.

Gahan said this many wins reflects on what type of job Fennelly has done as a coach on the college level.

“That shows what a great coach he is,” Gahan said. “First at Toledo and then keeping it going at Iowa State. He deserves it.”

Fennelly asked that he not get the credit, indicating that 300 wins just means he’s “old.” He wanted all the credit to go to the players.

“This is my 300th,” he said, “but all of the credit goes to the players. They’ve won their 23rd game this year and are in the Big 12 semifinals. I’ve never scored a basket or had a rebound, so the credit goes to my players.”

Iowa State improved its record this year to 23-5 and is only four wins shy of the school’s all-time record for victories in a season. That honor goes to last year’s Sweet Sixteen squad that went on to a 27-6 record.

“I’ve got great players and a great staff,” Fennelly explained.

Fennelly is the all-time winningest coach in ISU history, the victory over Baylor improved his career record at Iowa State to 134-49. Before he was a Cyclone Fennelly coached at Toledo, compiling a 166-53 record there. He took Toledo to the NCAA tournament three times.

Pam Wettig is the only other ISU women’s basketball coach to win at least 100 games, as her record at Iowa State was 100-121 over an eight-year period from 1984-1992.

Fennelly is the only Cyclone coach to take his team to the NCAA tournament. The Cyclones have made the Big Dance every year Fennelly has been coaching except his first season.

“The focus of this is on the young people, that’s what this is all about,” he said.