The Iowa State women’s basketball team continues to reach new heights both on and off the court.

When season tickets to the games went on sale to the public August 2nd, it was with a great deal of fanfare.

Coming off a record season which saw the squad advance to the Elite Eight, the ISU Athletic Department announced that season tickets would be just $15 for students.

Certainly an uplifting trend was set when the department included students as a top priority.

“It was important to keep it a cheap ticket for the students. We really want the student ticket holders there,” Crum said.

The 16-game schedule will include games against Big 12 foe Northwestern, ACC opponent North Carolina, and in-state rivals Iowa and Northern Iowa. The game against North Carolina, part of the Big 12-ACC Challenge, will be televised on ESPN nationwide.

All this would have hardly been imaginable just a few short years ago.

Before current coach Bill Fennelly took the reigns, the team had never averaged more than 944 fans per game over the course of a season.

Last year, the Cyclones became one of the hottest tickets in town, as they broke the regular-season attendance record four times.

A crowd of 8,520 saw the Cyclones, who finished the year undefeated at home, beat the Kansas State Wildcats.

The team set the school record for attendance when it drew 9,705 fans for the first NCAA tournament game against Oregon.

That total represents more fans then ISU drew in an entire season in six of the nine years before Fennelly was named head coach.

Last season also saw the season ticket base rise from 96 season tickets to 1,108 for the 1998-99 campaign.

An average of 5,205 came to see the Cyclones fast-paced play, and were undoubtably a factor in ISU’s resurgance.

The team next year will be almost certainly ranked in the top 15 in the nation to start the season, and the expectations are ceratinly sky high.

The Cyclones return all five starters, including Stacy Frese, an all-Big 12 selection at point guard.

Other returnees include sophomore forward Tracy Gahan, junior forward Megan Taylor, sophomore center Angie Welle, and senior forward Monica Huelman.

Also coming back will be key reserves Desiree Francis and Erica Haugen. Joining the team as freshman will be Erica Junod, Holly Bordewyk, and Lindsey Wilson.

Another strong addition to the team will be Gintarte Cipinyte, a 6-5 native of Yugoslavia who was one of the top junior college recruits in the country.

The Cyclones will look to achieve thier third consecutive undefeated regular season home campaign.

While season tickets for the public mey be more expensive, they will still certainly be affordable.

Tickets for the public went on sale at $84, which represented a hike from $65 the year prior. Tickets for the faculty and staff went on sale for $76.

Priorities for the ticekts went first to current ISU students and 1998-99 season ticket holders, followed by National Cyclone Club new season-ticket applicants, and then came non-donor new season-ticket applicants.

The season will open on November 4th with an exhibiton game against a team that is yet to be determined.