CINCINNATI — Iowa State’s magical ride to San Jose came to a close Monday against a Minnesota native in a Georgia uniform.

Georgia sophomore Kelly Miller had a career-high 33 points for the Bulldogs as the ISU women’s basketball team fell 89-71 in the Mideast Regional Finals of the NCAA basketball tournament.

“Our kids played as hard as they could play,” coach Bill Fennelly said. “We were beat by a better team.”

Miller made her first seven shots to ignite the Bulldogs, who jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the first three minutes and extended that lead to 31-10 at the 7:20 mark of the first half.

Miller and her twin sister Coco, natives of Rochester, Minn., combined for 49 points.

“[Kelly Miller] is just a great player, her and her sister both,” point guard Stacy Frese said.

After going to the locker room down 37-22, the Cyclones clawed back to within 10 points in the second half.

Desiree Francis hit a three-pointer with four minutes remaining in the game, and the Cyclones went to an aggressive press, which resulted in two quick steals.

The rally was capped by center Angie Welle draining a three-pointer to bring the score to 76-66 with 3:03 left, but that was the closest the Cyclones could come.

“We tried to keep our hearts in it, but we just ran out of time at the end,” Tracy Gahan said.

The Cyclones were led by Francis, who had 19 points off the bench.

Frese had 17, followed by Gahan with 13 and Welle with 10.

ISU outrebounded Georgia 49-29, which was the second-largest rebounding margin in Mideast Regional history, but it wasn’t enough to stop the Bulldogs, whose nine three-pointers set a Mideast Regional record.

There were 6,174 in attendance at the game at the Shoemaker Center on the University of Cincinnati campus, many in ISU cardinal and gold.

“We’re disappointed that we didn’t win, but we’re not disappointed by what we accomplished,” Fennelly said. “The true disappointment I feel is that I don’t get to coach this team tomorrow in practice.”

Georgia coach Andy Landers, whose team will face Duke in the semifinals in San Jose, said he was sure he would see the Cyclones in the tournament again.

“They’re a very good basketball team,” he said. “And they’ll be back.

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GEORGIA 89

IOWA ST 71

 
IOWA STATE (25-8)ÿ
Huelman 0-2 0-0 0, Taylor 2-12 0-0 4, Welle 2-7 5-8 10, Frese 5-19 5-6 17, Gahan 4-8 5-7 13, Haugen 2-6 2-2 8, Francis 8-10 2-4 19, Cizek 0-1 0-0 0, Robson 0-0 0-0 0, Homeyer 0-0 0-0 0, Shriver 0-0 0-0-0. Totals 23-65 19-27 71.
GEORGIA (27-6)ÿ
K.Miller 11-15 5-7 33, Ball 4-8 3-4 11, McDonald 1-5 1-6 3, Irwin-Osbolt 5-11 3-4 15, C.Miller 7-13 2-3 16, Vishniakova 0-1 0-0 0, Brown 1-1 2-2 4, Nolan 2-4 0-0 4, Murphy 1-2 0-0 3, Willis 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 32-61 16-26 89.
Halftime—Georgia 37, Iowa St 22.
3-point goals—Iowa St 6-23 (Frese 2-10, Haugen 2-4, Francis 1-1, Welle 1-2, Huelman 0-1, Taylor 0-5), Georgia 9-19 (K.Miller 6-8, Irwin-Osbolt 2-6, Murphy 1-2, C.Miller 0-2, Nolan 0-1).
Fouledout—Gahan.
Rebounds—Iowa St 49 (Gahan 14), Georgia 29 (K.Miller, Ball, McDonald 4).
Assists—Iowa St 9 (Frese), Georgia 19 (K.Miller 10).
Total fouls—Iowa St 20, Georgia 22.
A—6,174.