Cyclone women prepare for ACC/Big 12 Challenge

Jeremy Gustafson

The ISU women’s basketball team gets their second chance to beat an ACC team this weekend.Iowa State lost their first and only game this year to ACC powerhouse Duke, 81-63.The No. 7 Cyclones will return to North Carolina to face No. 18 N.C. State in the ACC/Big 12 Challenge.ISU head coach Bill Fennelly said that his team could see a Wolfpack team that plays very similar to the Cyclones. The Wolfpack have an inside/outside game that is hard to stop, much like Iowa State’s.”We have to guard on the perimeter and on the inside,” Fennelly said. “We will have to be on the top of our game.”The Pack is led by guard Tyesha Lewis who averages 13.8 points per game. Lewis is also solid on the boards with 4.8 per contest.The Wolfpack’s leading rebounder is Carisse Moody. She grabs rebounds at a rate of 6.8 per game and is good for 13.6 points.”We need to be aware of where everybody is on the court,” ISU center Angie Welle said. Welle is the leading scorer and rebounder for the Cyclones averaging more than 17 points per game and more than 10 boards. In Iowa State’s 68-67 win against Missouri, Welle grabbed a career-high 20 rebounds.The Pack is averaging just more than 37 rebounds a team and could pose a problem for the Cyclones on the boards.Fennelly said that the Wolfpack is a very physical rebounding team. “They do a great job getting to the offensive boards,” Fennelly said. “Their guards go rebound. We can’t give up second chance points.” Fennelly said that despite the fact that it is not a conference game, the Cyclones will be treating it the same as a Big 12 game.”We have to treat it for what it’s worth,” Fennelly said. “[It’s] a tremendous opportunity for our school and our program.”Fennelly said the game has “all the same feeling” as a conference game.”We are representing not just ourselves, but the Big 12,” Fennelly said. “We’re gonna play the kind of game on the road you have to win.”Welle said that the game “doesn’t feel like we are taking a step back” from Big 12 play.”It’s nice to get a break [from the Big 12],” Welle said.Iowa State will get no rest from the physical defenses they have been facing recently as the Wolfpack enters the game as the No. 2 defense in the nation, Fennelly said.It will be a test for ISU sophomore point guard Lindsey Wilson. Her driving to the basket helped Iowa State get a victory against Missouri, as she assisted on the go-ahead basket.”That’s a big part of our offense,” Welle said of the guards driving to the basket. “We need to be patient and someone is gonna get open,” she said.Wilson will need to be sharp with the ball and execute the Cyclone offense sharp if Iowa State hopes to leave North Carolina with a victory.Wilson is pacing the Cyclones this season with 69 assists.The Cyclones will try to improve on their 14-1 overall record Sunday while N.C. State is 11-5 overall and 5-2 on their home court. The last loss for the Wolfpack came in an overtime defeat last Sunday against in-state rival North Carolina. The Tar Heels upended N.C. State in overtime 83-77. N.C. State played Duke last night.Last year in the ACC/Big 12 Challenge Iowa State defeated North Carolina 79-67.The game will start at noon Sunday and will be televised on ESPN2. “It’s not often you get to play in front of a national audience,” Fennelly said.