Cyclone seniors say good-bye for now

Jeremy Gustafson

Tomorrow’s game against Texas A&M for the No. 9 ISU women’s basketball team will, as far as the regular season goes, mark the end of an era.Four seniors will play their final regular season home game: Gintare Cipinyte, Erica Haugen, Sarah Robson and one of the Cyclone’s all-time best Megan Taylor will all be saying good-bye. The Cyclones could host the first two games of the NCAA tournament, depending on their seed; if that happens the Cyclone seniors will have another curtain call.The latter three seniors have played four years as Cyclones and watched the team go 98-26 (including the Cyclones’ 87-47 victory over No. 21 Texas Tuesday night) overall and 48-14 in the Big 12 Conference.”It’s a unique situation,” ISU head coach Bill Fennelly said, “that there is so many [seniors] and they have all done so much.”Haugen said it will be hard to leave the fans.”It’s incredible to run out in front of 10,000 fans,” she said.Taylor will likely finish her career as the Cyclones’ all-time leading rebounder and scorer. Rebounds will possibly come first tomorrow as she needs only four to tie Tonya Burns with 921. With five boards Taylor would take over first place.Taylor has scored 360 points this season, bringing her career total to 1,751. Jayme Olson, who played from 1994-1998, tallied 1,799 points in her career. Taylor is 48 behind.”She’s been very special to the team and to me personally,” Fennelly said.Fennelly realizes that it is a team sport and knows that each one of the seniors has made significant contributions.Robson, a walk-on, has stuck through all four years and been an emotional leader off the bench. Cipinyte has played off the bench backing ISU center Angie Welle. Haugen, Fennelly said, has really picked her game up and become a major contributor. She has started all 25 games this year for Iowa State and a total of 50 in her career. The Osseo, Minn., native started 12 times as a freshman.Her career points per game average is at 4.0; this season it is up to 6.4. When she does shoot she has had great accuracy this year. From behind the three-point arc, Haugen has cashed in 41 percent of her shots.Haugen does the “little” things for the Cyclones. She ranks second on the team with 79 assists (3.2 per game) and she leads the team in steals with 31, including four against Texas.”I’m in charge of the little stuff,” Haugen said. “Defense is one of my stronger points.” She explained that she sets screens to get shooters open, delivers passes to open shooters, like Taylor, and dumps the ball inside to Welle. “Anything that helps the team,” she said.Amidst all the emotion of senior night, Fennelly and the team understand there is a game to play. “Senior night doesn’t mean anything unless you win the game,” Fennelly said.He also noted that this team has a chance to accomplish some very special things with a win. “They can be the only Big 12 team to finish the home schedule undefeated,” Fennelly said. “The focus has to be on playing the game.”The Cyclones will be on the road for their final game of the regular season, playing at No. 13 Texas Tech.”[We are] playing for a possible second seed in the Big 12 Tournament,” Fennelly said. While Texas Tech may seem like a much more difficult game, the Cyclones are keeping their focus one game at a time.”Texas Tech is a huge game,” Fennelly said, “but it doesn’t mean nearly as much unless we win Saturday.”